


Super Power AU

by xdestroying



Series: Super Power AU [1]
Category: Arashi - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supernatural Elements, Explicit Sexual Content, Fantasy, Fluff, Friendship, M/M, Multi, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-25
Updated: 2015-09-25
Packaged: 2018-04-23 07:49:38
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 28
Words: 50,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4868984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xdestroying/pseuds/xdestroying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Matsumoto Jun always had been a man for fashion...</p>
          </blockquote>





	1. The day when Nino’s Nintendo accidentally broke down

“Uso!?”  
Grey smoke was unbelievably coming out of the old machine on the floor. A slight buzzing sound indicated how the game console was still trying it’s best to read the disc inside it, but it was quickly silenced when the lid was harshly opened, and the game ripped out. For a second it was angrily whining, showing its dismay. _If that’s how it is then – might as well die completely._ And then it was silent.  
The small man slumped down in front of it, the silver disc still in hand.  
“Uso…” he repeated, his voice sad. He was unable to believe his eyes.  
His most precious possession was broken. All of a sudden. Or well… Maybe it wasn’t that sudden after all. He spend at least 11 hours a day gaming, so if he thought about it for a minute, maybe it wasn’t so weird that the old piece of electronic had finally given up. That didn’t make it less sad though. He couldn’t afford a new one. None of them could afford something so expensive. The old one was one he had been given as a gift after helping an old lady catching a guy who’d stolen her bag. It had been a huge pain in the butt, but Nino couldn’t just leave it be when he saw it all happen. And look what he actually got out of it.  
Never mind that now though. The Nintendo was broken and unusable.  
A few more minutes passed with Nino just sitting in front of the broken Nintendo, joystick in one hand, the (hopefully) still intact Mario Cart game in the other, all in pain. The world had broken down around him. What now? Life was definitely not worth living anymore. All the light had left the world, all the happiness vanished from his body. His soul started to cave in…  
“Why’s there smoke coming out of the Nintendo?” asked a voice behind him.  
It wasn’t until he whirled around, a snarl already ready on his lips, and saw Aiba’s dumb face that he realized the voice hadn’t been mocking. Aiba was sincerely curious. And here he had been all ready to yell and scold the one who’d pulled him out of his misery. Had it been Jun he would’ve most likely thrown himself at the other man like an angry cat, and they would’ve rolled around on the floor throwing insults and punches until Sho came along and separated them.  
“What did you do Nino?”  
“I didn’t do anything!” he snapped and turned his back to the other man, “It broke down on it’s own. Old garbage.” He harshly dropped the joystick on the ground, but wasn’t so mad that he didn’t take care when putting back the Mario game in its case. He wasn’t an idiot after all. Breaking more of his precious game things wouldn’t solve anything.  
Aiba shuffled around Nino and sat down beside him, “Can’t you fix it?” he asked and took the machine in both hands, lifting it up.  
“… No!”  
Nino reacted way too late, and before any of them realized what had happened, wires cracked, and Aiba had broken the game player in two.  
Nino’s head fell down, chin touching his chest. If possible, his shoulders slumped even more. Well, now it was definitely irreparable.  
“Oups?”  
Nino sighed.


	2. How superheroes need suits

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matsumoto Jun always had been a man for fashion...

“No way where getting something as ugly as that!”  
Sakurai and Matsumoto were having a fight.  
“But Sakurai-san. Superheroes need suits. And cool suits. Like these.”  
“Forget it Matsumoto!” Sho was a bit red in the face, and Satoshi couldn’t quite decide whether it was because of anger or embarrassment.  
The five members were seated in the living room, the youngest, and newest of the members discussing with the hot-headed older man. If it were to be right, Ohno should’ve been the one to have this discussion with Matsumoto. Seeing as he was the oldest and besides, the leader of their small band of men with supernatural powers. But the thing was, Ohno didn’t really give. He didn’t care what he wore really. As he had lived with his parents until now, his mother had always bought his clothes for him. What he wore was really none of his concern. If it came down to it, he didn’t care if he was naked. Only the other four might’ve been a bit offended if he were to one day refuse clothes completely. Might be an advantage against the villains though. Ohno considered the thought. Might be he could shock them until the others took care of the treat. Might actually work better against females.  
So Sho had probably thought it his duty to tell the eager Jun off. To utter the feelings of the other members. Ninomiya hadn’t looked too fond of the idea of wearing a yellow, tight, silk suit either.  
“Come on…” Matsumoto sighed, slumping his shoulders and trying a different strategy. He put up a pouty face, “Wouldn’t it be fun? You might actually enjoy it. We could each have a colour, and maybe a cape…”  
“No capes ok!?”  
Satoshi heard Ninomiya chuckle beside him.  
“Geez.” The rapper ran a hand through his black hair, clearly trying to control his irritation.  
Because they all knew what would happen, should he get mad. Things would turn ugly.  
With a guy who could read thoughts and lift things with his mind, Sakurai Sho was quite a dangerous guy. Especially when angered. And Matsumoto was considerably close to letting out the beast. Ohno wondered why Sho hadn’t just pulled some strings in Jun’s mind to get him to forget about the whole thing. It should be a piece of cake for him.  
“Oi, watch this Oh-chan,” Ninomiya suddenly whispered to him.  
And he watched, as Jun put a hand to Sho’s forearm, focused intent in his eyes. It didn’t take a genius to realize what he was trying to do. Only…  
Sakurai reacted by backing off a bit, as if in shock eyes opened a bit wider. Had Jun managed to touch him long enough to cause a change in Sho’s opinion about the clothes? Did he manage to cause him to change his mind?  
Matsumoto had the power to control a person’s emotions. Their thoughts and opinions about certain things were at his mercy as soon as he touched the person. They had all experienced that ability. For the better and worse.  
Sho’s brows furrowed, and a smug smile crept its way onto Jun’s face.  
“So, I think you would look great in red Sho-san.” He said, looking down to let his fingers slide across the paper with the sketches he’d made for the costumes.  
Sakurai threw up his arms in exhaustion, and managed to hit Jun in the back of his head with a book.  
“Ow!”  
Matsumoto looked utterly surprised, and Sho’s face was screwed up in concentration. He hadn’t hit him on purpose. Or that’s what Ohno hoped at least. They were supposed to get along!  
“There is no way! NO WAY, you’ll ever get me wearing one of those hideous, ridiculous and utterly old-fashioned costumes. NO WAY Matsumoto. And that goes for the other members too. AND you!”  
Jun’s face started to fall. But he looked surprised as well. Guess the emotion control didn’t work, Ohno observed. Hm, curious.  
“Now, if you’ll have me excused. I have better things to do than waste my time on you.”  
Okay, that was not very nice.  
But Satoshi could see how hard Sho was struggling with the slipping control of his powers. And as nasty as he sounded, he clearly didn’t want to hurt the younger member.  
The hot-headed man left Jun looking utterly at loss. Ohno couldn’t help but snort.  
_It looks like a lover’s quarrel._  



	3. When Sho decided to test his cooking abilities

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sho desperately wants to impress Jun, but Nino won't let him.

It couldn’t be that hard, he thought. Jun had done it so many times, making it look like it was the easiest thing in the world. Why shouldn’t Sho be able to do it too then?  
If he just started with something easy, nothing could go wrong.   
He had found a recipe of Bologna he thought looked delicious on the internet, and had even been out shopping for all the right ingredients. As he didn’t cook every day, or more like as _he hardly cooked at all_ , he wanted to impress. He had therefore bought the very best tomatoes he could find, fresh pasta and even went as far as buying fresh oregano for the dish. Jun probably wouldn’t approve of anything less. A part of Sho really wanted to surprise the other man who hardly ever let anyone else into the kitchen. He probably would have stopped Sho if he wasn’t out late tonight. He’d gotten himself a small job downtown, having to calm down a big mass of soccer fans. The two rivaling teams were playing today, and things always turned out ugly between the hardcore fans. Luckily, Jun was quite a specialist when it came to emotions. As a matter of fact, he only needed to touch a person for them to feel exactly what he wanted them to. Whether it be happiness, fright or calm. So obviously they had called for Jun.  
But in Sho’s case it was perfect timing.   
Now finding himself within the confined space of the kitchen walls, counters all around him, for a short moment he felt completely at a disadvantage. Not that it was a lie, but where to start? Willing himself to relax and not think too much, he started reading the recipe through a couple of times until he felt as if it made sense, how the ingredients would contribute to the outcome of the dish. With a determined and very focused expression, Sho began to cut up the onions and tomatoes. He wasn’t the most organized type when it came to refrain from creating a mess, especially in the kitchen, but as of now he did his very best. He was a bit of a neat freak, but in the kitchen it didn’t really help him much.   
Chopping the vegetables took a great deal of time. Before realizing, he had spent half an hour. How did that happen? Jun was always so damn fast when cutting onions, but somehow they kept slipping between Sho’s fingers, so much that he was afraid he’d cut the fingers instead of the vegetables.   
Just as he finally started frying the mince, Nino appeared in front of him on one of the bar stools. To begin with, he was just silently observing, placing his elbows on the counter, head resting in his hands, but Sho was only waiting for the snarky comment to come. He could feel how Nino’s eyes followed his every move as a slightly smug smile slooowly crept its way onto the younger man’s lips.   
“Hey Sho-chan. If you’re trying to impress J, don’t you think there are other ways to do it? Areas you’re more… _Skilled_ at.”  
Yup. There it was. The know-it-all tone in his voice. And not only that. The comment actually made Sho drop the garlic on the floor as he tightened up his shoulders. Luckily he had his back turned to Nino, so he wouldn’t see how Sho blushed at the hint. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what Nino meant. He didn’t even want to answer. Maybe there were other (innocent) ways, but Sho also wanted to take off some of Jun’s burdens. He always cooked for the other members, and even if he said he didn’t mind, that he enjoyed cooking, it must be tiring always spending so much time and energy on a great dish when his fellow members just wolfed it down as fast as anything else. Sho was probably the worst one of them. He knew he ate fast, but he loved food, and definitely tried his best to express this – especially when Jun cooked something extra delicious. But maybe he wasn’t that good at expressing it after all, which was another reason why he wanted to cook for Jun – just this once.   
“Sho-chaan. You’re spacing out.” Nino drawled, a chuckle following soon after.  
Sho wanted to turn around and punch him, but he didn’t make it that far, because as soon as his anger spiked, the tomato which had been lying around next to the sink went flying and hit Nino square in the face before he knew what was coming. When Sho went to stir the meat and add the onions, Nino had fallen to the floor mumbling something about being careful when provoking a person who could throw things with his mind.  
Sho couldn’t help but smile slightly, picturing the small man on the floor, being too lazy to get up.   
He was starting to get excited. The meat smelled delicious, and he figured that it couldn’t go wrong from now. He just needed to add the tomatoes, garlic, some bacon…  
From behind him a shadow crept up out of nowhere, and as focused as he was, he was startled when the shadow wrapped his arms around his shoulders and blew him in the ear.  
“Augh!”  
He dropped the whole garlic, skin and all, into the pan as he jumped almost two meters and threw up his arms. That’s when things started to go really wrong.   
Nino made it just in time, and evaporated when the big cutting knife threw itself in his direction, and Sho had to reach out, and grab the spoon as it threatened to fall to the floor. It was a lot worse when the bacon he had cut up started to fly in all directions, soaring around the kitchen when Nino was no longer anywhere to be found. Pots and pans danced in circles around his feet, and even Aiba’s newspaper fell to the floor in the living room, much to the confusion of the owner, who, with wide eyes, bent down to look for it under the table.   
Sho’s temper was rising. Why did Nino have to sneak up on him like that! Now that everything was going so well?! Even if he could no longer see the gamer, Nino’s chuckle was a slight whisper in the air around Sho. Or maybe it was just the guy’s thoughts that Sho could hear. Nevertheless, there was nothing else for him to do than to take a deep breath and get things in order. And almost as soon as he turned away from the stove, he didn’t need much concentration to stop the wild kitchen tools in their tracks. With no more than a thought, he placed the pots and pans back on the shelves, willed the – luckily still intact – bacon back to the cutting board, forced the knives back in their cupboards and gave Aiba his newspaper back. Of course Nino had long since fled, and Sho sighed tiredly. The younger man had been so much more annoying after his Nintendo broke – being bored all the time, but Sho still didn’t think it justified being a devil at a time like this. Such an important time.  
When he finally turned back to his mince, it was overcooked and burnt.

Sho was not happy. Neither was Jun. The latter was completely exhausted after having tried to calm down a mass of about a hundred wild men. Or at least that’s how they’d appeared to him at the stadium. The hooligans would’ve been a bloody mess after ten minutes, hadn’t Jun been there to try and get a hold of their emotions. But having to focus on so many people at the same time had definitely taken its toll on the man. Shoulders slumping, he stared down at the plate in front of him with a blank expression. It seemed to Sho that he had become even more exhausted after taking a look at the dinner he had been served.  
And Sho understood him. Despite the fact that Aiba was eating happily beside him, and Ohno hadn’t even as much as hesitated before catching the first overcooked pasta with his fork exclaiming “Umai!”, the dish was not a happy sight. After the accident in the kitchen, it had been too late to save the meat, but Sho had nevertheless tried his best to get the flavor right. That being said, it was quite hard when he had dropped the whole garlic into the pan, and he had wasted most of the tomatoes, throwing them in Nino’s direction. The bacon was ok, but maybe it had been better not to mix it with the burned flavor of mince, Sho observed now.   
Additionally, he couldn’t even do the pasta right. What should’ve been an exciting evening had turned out to be the complete opposite. The scenarios Sho had pictured in his mind, Jun being overly happy coming home to a delicious dinner, maybe even thanking Sho with a hug or something even better (though this was maybe pushing the limits of reality), were completely impossible now. At least Nino had had the sense to flee to his room, chased by forks and knifes and spoons – everything Sho’s mind could easily sling at him.   
Even Sho himself had lost all his appetite. And that definitely didn’t happen often.   
“Sugoi Sho-kun! You cooked this all by yourself?”  
“Hm?” Sho lifted his head to look at Aiba, who was obviously trying to cheer him up, sounding fake-surprised, all stiff smiles.  
Sho didn’t blame him. A heavy silence hung in the air, Ohno chewing, Jun staring, Sho sulking.   
He just nodded lamely, a defeated smile on his lips. As miserable as he felt, he jokingly said:  
“Isn’t it amazing? How bad it is?” he laughed stiffly, “I’ll make certain I stay away from the kitchen from now on.”  
The cheerful man opposite him gave a sympathetic smile, and Sho felt a bit better. As long as he didn’t look at Jun.   
“You bet you will. Or you’d risk poisoning us all.”  
Regretfully, Jun spoke up. And he was a grumpy as ever. As Sho shot him a quick glance, it hurt inside. The younger man didn’t look at him. He was still staring at the plate in front of him, fork in hand. He had grated plenty of parmesan on top of it, probably trying to improve the flavor. Bitterly, Sho thought how lucky it was that he had bought that cheese too. When Jun finally made to turn his head towards him, Sho instantly looked down. He didn’t want to feel those angry brown eyes cutting into his. Jun would be mad. He’d be mad that Sho had made a mess of the kitchen, he’d be mad that Sho had used such fine ingredients to make such gross food, he’d be mad because he was tired, and when he wasn’t home none of the other members could cook anything decent for _him_.   
Sho felt so ashamed. And sad. Because he had just wanted to make Jun happy.  
“I’m going.” He just said, and stood up a bit too quickly, causing his chair to tilt back.  
Before it made to the floor though, he caught it in his mind, and as he turned his back to the others and went in the direction of his own room, he put it back in place.  
  
Sakurai got a surprise the following morning.   
Having slept on it, he figured he’d just forget what happened last night. Maybe if he did that, the others would too. He just promised himself he’d never try and cook again.  
As he walked into the living room, still wearing his pajama pants and a white tank top, Nino was already sitting on the sofa, Nintendo DS in hand, resting his head on Ohno’s shoulder. The leader of the group was spacing out as always, with a coffee cup at his side, wearing sweats and a loose t-shirt.    
“’Morning.” Sho said as he walked up to the coffee machine, pouring himself a cup. Bless Ohno for having made coffee. It was one of the morning rituals they had, though Ohno’s own coffee always turned cold, because he forgot to drink it.  
Riida mumbled something as a morning greeting, Nino was silent. But that was nothing new, and Sho didn’t pay it any mind. He made to prepare himself some breakfast.  
Just as he was about to reach down for the toaster, he paused. No. He shouldn’t try anything in the kitchen again. He had promised the others he’d stay away from it. Even a toaster would be dangerous in his hands. Having thought that, he straightened up again, just standing there without really knowing what to do. He’d just have to ask Aiba to prepare an extra piece of toast for him, when the other member woke up. He could wait…  
He clutched his mug when he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
“I’m gonna prepare some eggs. Want me to make some for you too, Sho-san?”  
There really was no mistaking that hand. He turned around to face Jun who was looking at him, all morning smiles, with wet hair and damp skin. Sho really didn’t know what to say, quite taken aback, not just with Jun’s cheerfulness but also that stunning ‘just-came-out-of-the-shower-look’, so he just nodded dumbly. It wasn’t before Jun’s hand had slid off his shoulder and the younger man made to the refrigerator for eggs, that Sho could mumble a thank you. Mostly each member just made his own breakfast, as Nino preferred buns, Ohno leftovers from the day before, Aiba toast, Sho eggs, and Jun a Japanese breakfast. Jun might be the last person to make breakfast for his fellow members, as he was the man for making dinner every night. So this was certainly a bit out of character.   
As he didn’t want to annoy Jun anymore by standing in the way, Sakurai moved out of the kitchen and sat down on a barstool, playing with his cup, twirling the coffee around, all dumbstuck. Jun had probably just chosen to forget about yesterday like the rapper had. New morning, new day. Sho didn’t want to be mad at Nino today either, so Jun hopefully thought the same about him. And he had promised to stay away from the kitchen, so there really was nothing more to be said.  
A plate came into view, so he looked up at Jun, having also received a large glass of water. His heart skipped a beat at the smile the band member sent him.   
“Remember to drink some water too in the morning.” He said before grapping his own plate and walking around the counter to sit down in the sofa next to Nino. All nonchalantly, leaving Sho, who’d forgotten how to breathe. He loved it when Jun smiled like that. Those smiles were usually only given to Riida.  
When MatsuJun turned on the tv, Sakurai changed positions on the stool, so he could follow the news too, trying his best to not look too confused. There was probably nothing to be confused about anyway. He had just expected Jun to be mad this morning, but apparently there was no such thing.  
The eggs tasted divine, of course, and Jun had made him a serious amount, enough to make Sho very full. Just as he was about to finish, he heard a shriek from the sofa.  
What he saw, when he turned around, confused him immensely. This early in the morning, for no reason what-so-ever apparently, Ohno stood up, looking furiously at Nino. The gamer was holding his cheek gingerly, as if he had just been hit and with wide eyes, he was looking at his best friend looming over him.   
“You are SO annoying! Always using me as pillow, just so you can play that damn game of yours 24 hours a day. I hate it! Go somewhere else and use someone else. Don’t bother me!”  
Ohno was not a man who got angry easily, as a matter of fact, he hardly got angry at all, so seeing him like this, hands balled into fists, voice raised, was completely and utterly weird. And apparently Nino was so startled that he didn’t have a comeback at all. Which just seemed to make matters worse. The earth rumbled under them, Ohno’s head turning a deeper shade of red.  
“Oi! Calm down Ohno-chan.” Jun said, as he stood up and touched Ohno’s forearm. “No need to get so angry.”  
Even as he said this, a smile was dangerously tugging at the corners of Jun’s lips. Maybe only Sho would notice details like this about his fellow member, but aside from that, it made him just a tiny bit suspicious. Was he enjoying this scenario? Ohno didn’t seem to calm down at all. He snorted and shot Nino one last hateful look before his feet left the ground and he flew out the door. Probably to calm himself down in his new vegetable garden.  
Nino was left looking completely at loss, forgetting all about his game, not even having turned the machine off.   
“I’ll…” was all he uttered, before he evaporated into the shadows.   
Was this morning weird or what? Had there been something in the bologna which made them all act completely out of character? Thoughts of some villain who’d invaded the minds of his friends started to sneak its way into Sho’s head, before he pushed them away. The rapper almost felt a bit bad for Nino though. For Ohno to be so angry… But that was before Jun turned his head to look at Sho.   
He was grinning from ear to ear. As if he had just won something for the older man.    



	4. S and M

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The members' conversation takes an unexpected turn

This was definitely a weird conversation. How had their talk about their latest mission ended up like this? Some change from a guy who could shoot lightning bolts to sexual preferences.  
“I don’t really know. I think I might have a bit of a weird preference.” Aiba said, trying to explain.  
He looked deep in thought, dark eyes darting up, studying the roof.  
“A strange fetish!”  
“Yes a fe… No! Not like that. Nino!”  
The devilish guy grinned, and there was no doubt about what type he was.  
“MatsuJun is definitely S!” Ninomiya then said, smirking from ear to ear.  
Jun felt his ears grow hot.   
“Eh? What!” he laughed forcibly, embarrassed.  
Now that he thought about it, maybe he did tend towards the sadistic side. Before he could stop himself, he stole a glimpse in Sho’s direction. The older member was supporting himself with a hand on the bar disk, the other resting on his hip, seemingly uninterested in the conversation. S, huh… He gnawed on the inside of his lip.   
As Sho’s eyes flickered to meet Jun’s, the younger man quickly looked down, another flush creeping up his ears.   
“So, what does S and M even mean?” Sakurai asked, as Nino was poking Ohno, yelling something like ‘and you’re definitely a major M!’.  
That gamer was so loud sometimes, Jun wanted to cut off his ears, or shut Kazunari’s pie hole, but right now Sho was the annoying one. Didn’t he even know what they were talking about? No way. He looked at Nino, hoping he would explain. He would be the man to do that. _Explain things to the ignorant baby._   
But Ninomiya had other plans. He finally let go of Ohno who had been face down on the sofa, muffled screaming coming from the pillows, and went up to put an arm around Sho’s shoulders. He was wearing a smug grin, casting glances in Jun’s direction. Matsumoto himself was just standing with his arms crossed, leaning his weight on one leg. Oh no, where was this going.  
“Oh, you don’t know Sho-chan? Maybe J can tell you.” Nino teased, and Jun wanted to kill him for real.  
He tsk-ed, trying to look annoyed as Sakurai smiled nervously and tried to meet his eyes - possibly awkward about this situation that Nino had set in motion. But Jun still felt like acting bitchy. Whenever Nino was in this kind of mood all of them were victims, and Sho was certainly clueless as to where this was going.  
“See, when I say that J-san is S, it means that he digs it when people scream,” the gamer began, Sakurai’s head turning incredulously first to Nino and then Jun. He didn’t get it. “Hurting people turns him on.”  
“Chotto matte!” Matsumoto interrupted, trying to save face in front of Sho who was looking more and more freaked out.   
Ninomiya let go of the rapper, and stepped forward to meet Jun half-way.   
“What does it mean then Jun? You like to be on top, don’t you? Come on, you probably imagine yoursefffhh-”  
Before the brat could say something he would regret, Jun really did close off his mouth, placing a hand on top of that dangerous thing.   
“Urusé, baka!” He growled, annoyed. “Who’s the sadist here?”  
After a hard, threatening stare into Kazunari’s light brown eyes, he let go of the man. The smaller member was still laughing on the way back to his masochist though, and Ohno just received him with an indifferent look. At least someone could stand that little devil.   
When he finally dared look back at Sakurai again, the man had put both hands in his pockets, staring at nothing, into space, seemingly in thought.  
Jun really hoped Sho wasn’t completely grossed out by the thought of him now, because he imagined Jun being into all sorts of weird things.    
He sighed and let a hand slide through his tousled hair, turning around to head back to his room. As if he didn’t care either way. In reality, his heart was beating rapidly.   
That’s when Aiba piped up from the leather chair where he’d observed everything quietly until now.  
“Don’t worry Jun-kun. I’m just H.”  
Masaki had finally reached a conclusion concerning his own preferences? Matsumoto shook his head. What did H even mean? Aiba was smiling one of his oblivious smiles, possibly not even fazed by the whole situation. Didn’t he find it a tad too personal to speak about here? Even if they were members of the same group. Most likely, he just wanted to cheer Jun up. He could be so considerate, and this was his way of showing it. Sometimes the man was more observant than what the others gave him credit for.   
With the ghost of a smile, Jun made it two or three steps towards the door, going in the direction of each of their personal rooms, again.  
“Hmm… I think I’m S.”  
Jun’s cock twitched.  
What? What did he just say?  
He stopped dead in his tracks. Did Jun dare look back at Sho? He wanted to see how the other man looked as he’d said those words. As innocent and oblivious as he’d sounded, as only Sho could sound sometimes, Jun still wanted to see his expression. Did he mean it? Just a quick glance couldn’t hurt. It was only natural right? To look at the person talking.  
He didn’t know what he’d expected, but it definitely wasn’t what he’d managed to glimpse with the quick glance backwards before he went out the door, nonchalantly, cool. – The opposite of what he was really feeling. His body was hot, and he felt a bit dizzy.  
Sakurai’s eyes had been dark, turned in his direction, and later Jun would imagine that darkness to be liquid, alive.  
  
He needed a shower.  
Not really considering if it seemed a tad shady, he locked the door after himself, fingers trembling, and stripped clumsily before stepping under the water.   
He was already hard.   
And it wasn’t like he could go and fix this anywhere. The walls had ears. Or. Ninomiya Kazunari had.  
With a breathless curse, he ignored the burning sensation as the water hit his naked body. Things were not meant to be like this. It was so inconvenient, he told himself biting his lip as he palmed himself.   
To make matters even more complicated, with his powers, emotions affected him even more than normal people. And the stronger the emotion, the stronger the effect. Jun was the first person to cry watching a sad movie, the first person to snap if things got a bit heated, the first person to get a boner when turned on…  
How could his body betray him, and react this way towards that hot-headed, childish idiot? The rapper was so damn difficult to work with; he rarely backed down in a discussion, and if people didn’t do as he saw fit, he’d just mess with their heads until things turned out the way he wanted them to. He was reckless and stupid. Bloody stupid! A man who loved food so much it was gross, and couldn’t even boil an egg by himself! He was awkward and embarrassing, and _so not cool_. Sitting in the sofa all day when there were no jobs to get in town, reading the fucking newspaper or composing those horrible rap lyrics, which he then expected the other members to listen to.   
One day, Jun would teach him, he thought, as he worked his member up and down. He imagined how he’d pin the man to the wall, holding his arms above his head as he ravished his mouth with his tongue. He would rub their crotches together, he thought with a deep sigh, and Sho would resist, twisting under his hands that would roam everywhere until Jun knew every crook and cranny of the older member’s body. His stomach muscles would ripple underneath Jun, and the younger member would growl as he did now, sliding his hand down into Sho’s pants. As he remembered Sho’s words, and the way his eyes had glowed, he had to bite down hard on his lip, so as to not moan loudly.   
Sakurai wouldn’t let him control him for long. He would push Jun away, press a leg in between Jun’s, he would be violent and demanding, barely letting the younger man breathe between the aggressive, violent attacks.  
Jun gasped as he came hard in his hands, cum quickly being washing away and running down the drain. He had to support himself against the wall as he panted.  
  
This was getting dangerous.


	5. Ohno wants to plant a vegetable garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ohno wants to be a gardener but Jun is skeptic

“Seriously?” Jun was skeptic.  
It wasn’t really anything new, and it wasn’t like it bothered Ohno a lot.   
The truth was, nothing really seemed to bother the oldest member. Walking around in his own little world - but still not very far from reality if it needed him - he was probably the most carefree of the five men. He was quite the character too. Not really stopping to consider what anyone thought about him, all the while still being a very, very loving person. Because it wasn’t like he didn’t _care_ about the world around him. As a matter of fact, it was the completely opposite.  
Which was why a vegetable garden suited him perfectly. That’s what he himself thought at least, or, what he figured, after spontaneously getting the idea. Like it had been with fishing. Why not just do it. And it was sooo relaxing. Watching plants grow. So slow and calm, and not in a hurry at all to bloom. Just thinking about it made Ohno gaze longingly into the distance. If only he could create something as soothing as that with his own two hands. It would be like painting. Only outside.  
“Riida!”  
He blinked. “E?”  
Matsumoto had crossed his arms, putting his weight on one leg, but the smile on his lips kept him from looking like an upset teenage girl. “As long as I don’t have to tend to it, plant all you want.”   
He laughed. He loved it when Jun laughed like that. It was so rare these days. But when it finally happened, Ohno knew he meant it with all his heart.   
“As long as you don’t dig us a moat too.”  



	6. Eclipse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nino can use shadows to his advantage - he can turn to smoke or become invisible in the dark. And during an eclipse, his power is at its peak.

This was perfect. Absolutely perfect. With no real light to make this job harder for him, it would be a piece of cake to nail the gang of criminals, without them knowing what hit them. For them to choose this particular night, really made Ninomiya consider if they were in fact cut out to be criminals. Didn’t that job require a certain IQ? At least if you wanted to advance to higher ranks than burglars. Which this group of men certainly wasn’t. But could it be – perchance – that they hadn’t heard about him? That they didn’t know that the awesome, snarky, clever superhero Kazunari Ninomiya used shadows to his advantage? That darkness was his friend, and that an Eclipse was the perfect environment for him to commit his mischievous acts?  
He had been sitting alone in the living room with Ohno. The older man drawing more enthusiastic than ever, sketching the layout of his new vegetable garden that he planned to lay out behind the flat. That’s when Jun had announced from the sofa that there’d be an eclipse tonight, and that the police department had called by the way. Bored as he was, it was obvious for Nino to get up and announce that he had nothing better to do than to squash some criminals tonight.  
So that’s how he ended up here, staring blankly at the group of men in front of him, totally oblivious to the fact that the small man was watching them from the shadows, just standing there, only a few meters away from them. He figured he might as well observe them for a while, maybe he could get some good info from listening in on their conversation.  
It turned out to be pretty boring though. And as the eclipse was half way through, he figured he might as well get it over with, while the circumstances were still in his favor.   
“I tell you we should just kill the guy. He’s way too much of a pussy, and I’m suspecting he will chicken out any minute now.”  
“I get your point. You deal with him Creed, shouldn’t be a problem for you.”  
Just as they agreed to go get rid of one of their own, for whatever reason Nino didn’t really pay any attention, he snuck out from behind the shadows.  
“You’re kidding right? Come on. Hiring a guy who’s too much of a coward to begin with, isn’t that stupid?” he said, a smirk playing along his slim lips as they all turned their faces in shock. “I mean, should’ve just killed him from the beginning right? Save yourself the trouble.”  
“Oi! Omae!?” the one closed to Nino shouted, pointing his fat finger at him, “Where did you come from?”  
The gamer couldn’t help but sigh. “And you call yourself the mafia?” then he bent down and landed a kick across the man’s thick face.  
From the corner of his eye, he saw the others quickly move towards him as their comrade fell down. Two of them struck him at the same time. But their hits went through, as he, with a silent laugh, turned into smoke. The sound lingered in the air as he evaporated, and moved through the shadows towards one of the bigger guys.   
“You know what day it is today?” he whispered creepily before wrapping an arm around the man’s scarfed neck.   
Shaking his head, looking rather terrified at Nino, he grinned back at him, “Oh, no matter. It’s your unlucky day anyway.”  
He liked doing things dramatically. Made it all the more fun to see them shake in their pants. Those big men who were twice, sometimes thrice Kazunari’s own size. And he overpowered them all.   
“Oha Oha,” he told the others, as the man fainted from loss of oxygen. “Such a shame. This is almost too easy.”  
He shot a quick glance at the dark sun, ready with a new snarky comment on his lips, when he was shocked by strong hands grapping him from behind.  
“You little shit! Thinking you can keep tricking us. Don’t get overconfident!” the raspy voice of the criminal said to him.  
He clenched his teeth in annoyance, struggling from lack of breath. Big hands were wrapped around his neck, and his own puny ones stood no chance at trying to pull them away. He grunted. And the mafia guy laughed.  
“Not so cool now, huh?”  
Ninomiya let out a pained gasp, as he began to see shadows himself. _Oh well, enough of this. No more fooling around._  
He struggled to manage a bratty grin, before he finally let his body vaporize, and turn into smoke between the fingers that had been wrapped around his neck, threatening to end his life, much to the surprise of the stronger individual.  
“Huh?!”  
“Ah… Thought you had me now?” Nino provoked, standing before the men, slightly see through, pure smoke himself now.  
Staying like this, half person, half shadow was something he was only able to do when shadows were everywhere. Like today. With the eclipse.   
He tsked. “My my, you really are dumb.”  
He shrugged, and decided it was time to return home.   
Hopefully Jun had cooked something good today as well. If he was lucky, it was hamburger. He had been working hard after all.  
  
After finishing up in the alley, he left the mass of beat up ‘so-called criminals’ lying in pain on the ground.  
“Yup. All ready to be picked up. You’re welcome.”  
He hung up on the police, and put the phone back in his pocket. Ahh, well. At least that was one day well spent.  
He stretched like a cat, yawning, arms up behind him. Now he looked forward to playing with his precious DS, leaning on the shoulder of his beloved leader.  
Life was not that bad after all. Though a bit boring at times.


	7. What happened when Jun brought home his new girlfriend

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun finally gathers his courage and tries to introduce his girlfriend to the other members. It doesn't exactly go as he had hoped it would. For better or worse.

He had been nervous. Very nervous. For introducing her to the other members of the group. But you should’ve seen their faces. He didn’t know what he’d expected, but nothing of what actually happened.  
The day Jun brought home his new girlfriend, Arashi acted very strange.  
“So nice to meet you! Aiba Masaki desu!” Aiba was the first one to introduce himself, and in the most excited way. This should’ve been normal, because Aiba was always ridiculously happy and spunky. But it actually seemed like he was way more excited than usual, almost so much that it scared Jun. He backed away a few steps, when the bubbly man came jumping down the stairs and grabbed her hand, shaking it so fast that he actually lifted her a few inches off the ground.  
“Woah there, Aiba-chan. Remember your strength.” Matsumoto tried saying, hoping to calm the man down a bit.  
Why was Aiba so damn happy about this? So up in their faces. But she just laughed, and everything was apparently fine with her. She smiled when she introduced herself, and he had to laugh sheepishly. At least that went well. But he hadn’t really expected anything else. It was Aiba after all.  
Moving past Aiba and further into the apartment, they found Nino sitting on the couch. He was apparently sulking, staring blankly down at the glass table in front of him. MatsuJun didn’t blame him though. Even if it had been a week since the Nintendo broke down, Nino was still sad and bored and did nothing to hide it from the other members. Maybe he actually felt worse for Ohno and Sho who were the two people mostly tormented by Nino’s mischievous ways to pass all his free time. The worst was when there were no jobs for Nino or any of the others, that’s when Nino really got annoying. But today he was apparently just in a bad mood. As soon as Jun moved cautiously closer to him, testing the waters before pulling his girlfriend along, the gamer whipped his head around, and sent Jun the ugliest scowl he had ever seen Nino make. _Jeez, why is he so damn mad today?_   
It had been fine this morning. He decided it was best to wait and introduce her to Nino later. Or else he might risk her head being bit off. He’d try Ohno now. He was probably the one Jun was the least nervous about. You could always count on Riida. The calm man was accepting about everything and anyone. Despite his silent and rather indifferent appearance, he was probably the most caring one of the bunch. Always protective of the younger men, even if he didn’t always show it. He would always give people a chance, but then, he was also the blunt type. All this was why Jun liked the man so much. Maybe he actually looked forward to telling Ohno about his girlfriend. Show him how excited he was about it.   
He found Riida outside, as expected, in the newly planted garden. The small man was attending to the cabbages, removing weed with small, nimble movement with his fingers. He had some kind of talent with his hands, Jun had to admit. It was actually a joy just watching it. But today, Jun couldn’t stand around just staring at Ohno going about his business. He held his girl’s hand, as he walked up to the squatting member.  
“Ohno-san.” He said, as he approached him, and Ohno didn’t instantly look up.  
“Hn?” he answered.  
As he raised his head and met Jun’s eyes, he didn’t as much as look at the girl the younger member held onto. Which was a bit weird. Didn’t he notice her at all?  
“Uhm,” Jun was actually taken off guard, having lost some of his confidence. “Remember the girl I talked about some days ago? … Well, I just thought I’d introduce her probably now… You know, as we’ve become a couple.”  
“Ah, domo.”   
…  
He turned back to his vegetables, and Matsumoto felt like dropping his jaw. Was that it? Ohno didn’t seem interested at all. He hadn’t even smiled at her. Was Jun supposed to be pissed now? Actually he might’ve been, hadn’t he been so stunned. And a bit sad actually. Why were both Ohno and Nino so indifferent about it? It almost felt like they didn’t approve.  
He sent his girlfriend an apologizing smile and shrugged. Well, there was still dinner. Maybe he’d get a chance to convince them then.

He was trying his best in the kitchen, cooking something he knew the other members really liked, going back and forth between meat and vegetables and broth. He was betting on a hot pot to bring them all together.  
He had been trying most of the day to impress the other members, but so far the only one who’d seemed impressed was Aiba, who’d stormed at them just inside the door, almost as if he had been trying to distract them, or hide something. Jun sometimes really had no idea with that guy.   
The only one of the members he still hadn’t tried his luck on was Sho. The rapper had been out all day, working a job downtown, apparently using a lot of energy in a battle of brains with the yakuza boss in the area. No one but Sho was cut out for that, as he was both brilliant and a mind reader, which was why he had gone without question. He was always reliable. As much as he sometimes complained, throwing a fit when his temper got the best of him, he would never refuse helping others. And Jun actually suspected that the genius very much enjoyed being superior. With the ghost of an affectionate smile on his lips, MatsuJun remembered when they had been fighting one certain villain with some telepathic abilities like Sho’s. He could give people nightmares, causing horrible images to flash before the other member’s eyes, scaring them out of their wits. But Sho had kept his cool, sending equally frightening images into the brain of the other man. Ohno had had to put a hand on Sho’s arm to make him stop, so much had Sho seemed to enjoy himself, smiling all the while. As horrible as it sounded, Jun had been thankful for Sho to be able to cause the other man harm, as he had harmed Sho’s friends. He respected Sakurai so much and that day had certainly not made those feelings weaker. Maybe the telepathic man’s opinion was the most important to him, he suddenly realized. He just wasn’t really sure why.  
Sho was also quite a mystery to Jun. Being the only one whose emotions Jun couldn’t control, he was completely at loss when trying to read the older man. And that was somehow…  
He felt arms sneaking around his waist, pulling him out of his thoughts and he looked down, meeting the brown eyes of his girlfriend. He smiled.   
“I’m sure Sho will like you. Especially when he gets something to eat. You’ll see.” He told her, reassuringly.   
It seemed like he thought wrong though. Or well, he didn’t get the chance to find out. Because mere seconds later, the knife he was using to cut the vegetables escaped his hand and turned around, only to fling itself into the nearest cupboard, blade buried deep in the wood. With horror, Jun realized it had been half a meter from hitting his girl, who now stood with wide eyes, staring incredulous at him. What had caused this, if not…?  
Sho stepped into the room. And pandemonium began.   
He did nothing but walk toward the sofa, but around him things started acting completely unnatural. To begin with, the chairs tumbled over, pots fell from window sills and drifted mid-air, and paintings crashed down out of the blue.   
“Sho-san!” Matsumoto tried to yell after the man, but he didn’t get as much as a look.  
He saw how Sakurai clenched his teeth though, the jaw bone jutting out, before the pot turned over, spilling the content all over the floor. Jun opened his mouth to angrily ask what the hell Sho was doing, when a pot lid hit him in the back of the head, silencing him for a minute.   
As the cupboards opened, and the cutlery started to sneak out, Nino and Ohno came into the room.   
“E?!”  
“What is going on here? Sho-chan??” asked Nino, and ran after the older man, who had finally reached the sofa where he sat down. “Sho?”  
But not even Nino could really get the man to stop whatever he was doing, as the tap turned on, water flooding out, even meat and vegetables flying through the air, joining the small twister that was starting to form around Sho. It didn’t seem like the man was aware of this, just staring straight forward, jaw clenched, brows a bit furrowed.   
Ohno laughed quietly, his shoulders subtly moving up and down. What was so damn funny? He turned his head towards Matsumoto, now grinning at him. What the _hell_ was so funny?!   
Finally Aiba came flying into the room, just barely avoiding the continuously opening and closing doors, as the table turned over, and the lights began to flicker. His eyes darted between Sakurai and MatsuJun, before he had to grab hold of the counter, because his feet left the ground. Just as everything nearly went completely out of hand, Nino turned around, and caught Jun’s eyes. He had been sitting next to Sho, studying his face, waving his hand in front of it. Now with rather cold eyes, he motioned for Jun to leave. _Get her out_ , he mouthed. And Jun didn’t have to be asked twice. He was certain as hell that they’d be interrogated tomorrow though. As if he’d let them get away with ruining his girlfriend’s impression so much, maybe even threatening the relationship.   
He grabbed her hand, and practically ran for the door. All of this was not part of his plan. This was so weird! Just as he passed through the violent doors, a strong green colour flickered before his eyes, and later he’d claim he heard the words _‘Oblivious jerk’_ in his head.  
  
  



	8. As things turn heady

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sho's turning 30, and the other members of the superhero group has prepared a present. But Sho's not particularly happy about it...

It was a birthday present from the other members. How good of a present it was, was really a matter of perspective. Nino thought it insanely funny.  
“Then you can go to the spa and take _reeeal_ care of your body, Sho-chan,” he said.  
Whatever that was supposed to mean.  
“Shut up Nino,” was all he got back from the member turning 30.  
He turned the gift card in his hand, wondering what the hell he was supposed to use flower-baths, soy-massages and face treatments with sake for.   
Aiba looked expectantly at him, waiting for a huge smile and a ‘thank you so much guys, this is just what I needed!’. As if Sho had been wanting something like this.   
His eyes drifted to Jun who was standing with his arms crossed.  
Oh. _Oh!_  
This was all his idea wasn’t it? It was that beauty freak’s idea. Was this a hint? Now that he had given up on teaching Sho proper fashion sense, he’d decided to try and convince his fellow member that it was important to take care of your skin and all.   
But Sho didn’t care a bit for this modern crap about treatments of all odd sorts. Jun could take this stupid spa idea and stick it up his ass.  
“Are you telling me I’m ugly? Is that it?” the words were of out his mouth before he even thought about it. Thought about how the other members could hear it all.  
Sometimes Sakurai was so quick to anger that it was a wonder really. But he couldn’t help it – try having to put a lid on every single emotion you have coursing through your body, trying to control powers too great for a human to posses. See how you work it out,  
“What?” fury instantly sparked in Matsumoto’s eyes, arms falling to his sides as he took a defensive stance.  
“This was your idea wasn’t it? This is stupid!” Sakurai threw the card – not very carefully – towards him, “As if you should be concerned about my body. I can take care of that myself, thank you.”  
Afterwards, Sho would consider if he’d been unfair, getting riled up like this, but for now he was just so damn tired of the younger member meddling in business that wasn’t his to meddle with.   
The younger man clutched the card, he had actually managed to catch, in his hands, “Oh? Then go right ahead you thick-headed idiot! I don’t know why I even bother with you!”  
There was fire in his eyes, but he was hurt too. Sho was just too riled up and stubborn to see it.  
“Sho-chan…” Nino tried to break in hesitantly, taking a step towards them.  
“No, this isn’t funny Ninomiya! You can all go to hell!” he spat.  
And with that, he turned around and stormed out, leaving the four members in dumb-founded silence.  
They stared after him, even after the door had closed behind the rapper.  
“I guess… He didn’t like the present then?” Aiba said in a small voice.  
Riida put a gentle hand on his arm.  
Jun snorted.  
“We shouldn’t even have bothered to remember his birthday. No matter what we do, he doesn’t get happy.” Throwing the card on the table, he went to the kitchen, “Short-sighted, arrogant bastard.” He grumbled, more to himself than anyone else.  
And the last three members watched as he took the pot of homemade ramen he had spent so much time on, and threw it all in the bin.  



	9. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something is wrong with Sho. And it's not until Jun wakes up one night that he discovers to what extend Sho's powers actually reach.

There was something wrong with Sho.  
When he threw a fit on his birthday only two days ago, they had all thought it was just Sakurai being Sakurai. - A bit of an overreacting Sakurai, but Sakurai all the same. But they hadn’t seen him since. He had been coped up in his room, silence filling the corridors all day. They had an unspoken rule about not entering each other’s rooms – seeing as it was the only place they could actually be alone. Rubbing shoulders in the apartment all day could wear patience thin. Especially among five men with different tempers. Especially among five men with different tempers and superpowers. So they hadn’t tried to enter Sho’s room. Three of them had tried knocking on his door, but mostly they hadn’t gotten an answer. Kazunari had lingered long enough one day for a deep roar to suddenly fill the hallway as a heavy crash sounded from within the room, shaking the door so much that Nino turned tail.   
As much as they cared about the older member, as concerned as they were, they knew how dangerous it would be for them to break down the door. There was a reason why the telepathic man stayed in his room. It wasn’t to protect himself. It was to protect his friends. And so, even if Aiba begged to at least try to pry it open, just a little bit – “he could do it” - Ohno refused to do anything before the man left the room himself. He did convince Jun to make sure there was still life behind the walls though. But that was just about as much as the youngest member did. Ever since Sho had insulted him, he’d refused to seem worried about the other man. He was obviously deeply hurt, though he wouldn’t admit as much.  
  
What Matsumoto didn’t reveal either was the disturbing emotion waves he picked up when he passed by the door closely enough. He didn’t tell the other members this – he was supposed to be angry, too angry at Sho to get near him – but he was trying his best to figure out if he could do anything for his fellow member. He was hurt, yes, and as stubborn as Sho himself, but he still cared way too much about the man for him to just let the rapper break himself apart in the small room all alone.  
It was because of this concern that he one night, as he woke up for some weird reason, decided to take a walk down the hallway. None of them had so far really checked on Sakurai during the night, because why should they? – But for that reason, they hadn’t noticed how Sho’s condition was during the dark hours.  
And it was terrifying indeed.  
Jun didn’t even get within 10 meters of Sakurai’s door – he could barely see the outline of it in the darkness – before he felt the heavy waves of terror, so strong he could taste the musky smell in the back of his throat. It was horrible, and he had to stop in his tracks, close to gagging.  
_What the hell?_  
Something was very, very wrong, and with the powers Jun possessed, he was more than capable of understanding the severity of what was going on with Sho. His emotions were in chaos, mixed up of anger, fear and exhaustion. How long had it been since the man had slept? What was going on?   
Jun tried making his way nearer the door, expecting to have to kick the door in.  
But it was unlocked. Sho hadn’t locked it.  
Hadn’t the other members checked at all?  
Confusion flooded over him. Why hadn’t they dared go in here? Had something held them back, had something…?  
The room was dark. Matsumoto didn’t really know what he’d expected – maybe something scarier than just a room. There was no sound, no strange light, no Sho out of bed. But Jun’s head hurt. The air was toxic around him, he was dizzy, but emotions weren’t what made his skull feel like it was about to burst. It was something else.  
It was Sakurai’s powers. They were leaking out of him as he was lying on his stomach in the middle of his bed, duvet covering only his lower body. Right now, he wasn’t moving a muscle, but even so he was as dangerous as a nuclear bomb waiting to go off, radiation polluting his surroundings. Matsumoto felt sick, but mostly by the thought of his friend having to deal with these destructive powers every day, every hour, every second. Just standing near him like this, it was unbearable – and that was to Jun. Jun, who was apparently the only one Sho couldn’t affect. Swallowing slowly, walking the last two steps to the bed, he sat down by Sho’s head, looking at his sleeping form. And that’s when he noticed.  
The older man’s eyes were darting back and forth behind his eyelids. His jaw clenched and unclenched, and his fingertips spasmed. His lips were quivering and it looked like he wanted to say something, wanted to open his mouth and whisper, but he didn’t. There was sweat across his brow, and when Jun followed the shape of the other man’s body with his eyes, he found the rest of the exposed skin, from neck to the small of his back, to be equally covered. No wonder; it was insanely hot in the room. If Sho had had his door closed for days, it would’ve been cold in here, wouldn’t it?  
Jun didn’t really think about it as he lifted his hand to put it on Sho’s forehead. The man was sleeping; there was no danger in touching him now.  
He almost removed his hand the second he touched Sho’s skin. It was burning, the temperature much higher than what should’ve been right,  
“What the…” he whispered in the darkness, but he should get an answer soon enough.  
One second he was looking at how Sakurai’s dark hair was plastered to his face, his neck, wanting to move it out of the way… The next; terrifying images flashed before his eyes.  
There was fire, and flames, and destruction, and a horrible heat poking at his skin, burning him all over. But it was also dark, a heavy, pressing blackness overhead, making the space seem cramped. Where was he? The embers burned around him, the darkness threatened to swallow him from above – he didn’t dare look up – and in the middle of it all was a familiar shape.   
Sho was standing with arms outstretched at his sides, palms wide, face towards the sky, and eyes as red as burning coal. Jun couldn’t breathe, it was too hot, too cramped, there wasn’t any oxygen, the fire was eating everything. The fire was eating the world.   
He suddenly looked down at his hands, shining light blue in sharp contrast to his surroundings. They felt cold, they felt right. When he looked up again, searching for Sho, he noticed things flying through the air – everything. Cars and trees and animals, buildings and mountains and raindrops dying in the fire. There were dark, lifeless shapes on the ground and the fire consumed them. Fear rose in Jun, desperation and sorrow. He knew those shapes. He knew the people and he knew this world. With tears in his eyes, he looked once more towards Sho to tell him to stop, to scream… But as he wanted to, the fire swallowed Sho too, and the man opened a fiery red mouth to let out a bone-chilling howl, and in such a sad, sad, hollow voice full of pain and anger.  
Sakurai was screaming in his sleep. He was screaming, and Jun wrapped his arms around the man, he took his head in his healing hands, pressed his cheek against the top of his warm head, wrapping all there was of him around Sho, trying to fight his pain, desperate to erase the horrible images from his friend’s mind. He wanted to rid him of his fear, of his nightmares.  
Even if his powers didn’t work on Sho, if they couldn’t reach his protected mind, he did not care. If he could just use these cooling hands to kill the fire, if he could just light up the darkness above Sho, if he could just do _something._   
“It’s going to be okay,” his voice was shaking, it was hoarse as if he hadn’t spoken for years. It didn’t sound convincing, but that wasn’t important, “You’re not alone. I’m here,” whispering, he patted the older man’s head, stroked his hair, running a hand over his sweaty neck, across his shoulders.   
He imagined spreading ice over coal, pouring water over embers. From his fingertips he let emotions of calm and safety wash over Sho’s body. It didn’t matter if Sho’s mind rejected them, if only his body would accept.  
When Sakurai finally stopped screaming, the silence was deafening. Jun had completely forgotten how quiet felt, how comfortable it was. The man had become still in his arms too, his breathing not ragged any longer. He discovered how a hand had found his elbow and taken hold. There was no strength in the grip, but Jun put his other hand on top of Sho’s, smiling gently, affectionately,  
“That’s right, shh…”   
How long he sat by Sho’s side, Jun didn’t know, he didn’t remember as time ticket by, didn’t really worry about it. To begin with, he was focusing on Sho’s breathing, making sure the older man’s body cooled down minute by minute. He rearranged the cover, so Sho wouldn’t get cold, he moved the bangs out of his eyes, and he held his hand all the while, never letting go.  
It wasn’t until the light started to pour through the small crack Jun had left in the door that he finally got up. Giving his friend a light kiss on top of his head, he slowly rose from the side of the twin-bed where he’d been sitting all night, and stretched his limbs. As some of his joints popped miserably, he cast one last look at the sleeping man – peaceful now, before he went out of the door, and closed it after himself.


	10. Indulgence

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakurai finally comes out of his room, not knowing how long he's been locking himself up, how long it's been since he's seen his friends. And he's not sure he dares to know how they're doing without him.

When he finally opened the door again, when he finally found himself back in the hallways of their apartment, it felt strange. He wasn’t sure if it was the ground he felt underneath his feet or it was part of his imagination. If he was still dreaming. He was feeling dizzy and tired and empty, so so empty. He wasn’t sure it was a bad thing though. Somehow, the chaos had died down. The buzzing in his head, the noise in his ears, had quieted down, now only like a small whisper, reminding him that there were still huge powers underneath his skin, but for now, they were moving subtly, gently within him.   
Sho wasn’t certain what had happened, but something had taken away some of the burden, taken off some of the weight he was carrying. Cool hands and a soft voice.   
  
After a long shower, he was standing in the laundry room, staring blankly at the machines as the tumbler dried his favorite shirt. There was so much he needed to do. How many days had he missed? How long had he gone without food? Was he even hungry?   
One thing was more important than all the other things needing to be carried out though.   
His face in the mirror was haunted to look at; there were bags under his black eyes even if he felt like he hadn’t done anything other than sleeping – or trying to – and weren’t his shoulders sloping more than last time he looked at them? He hadn’t bothered to dry his hair after the shower, so the dark, half-long locks were dripping down his naked back, marking lines over his skin.   
He was conscious but not quite present. Robbed of feelings, but hurting.  
  
The living room was empty when he made it there. This too felt strange. It was too quiet. And he felt cold. Sad.  
His feet made a light thudding-noise across the floor as he made his way towards the fridge. Opening it, he grabbed the first and best Tupperware his hands could find. It wasn’t until he pulled it closer, looking at the dark blue lid that he saw the small scribble on a yellow note on top of it:  
_\- For Sho -_  
Biting his lip, he recognized Jun’s handwriting. Jun had saved some leftovers for him. He had thought of him. He hadn’t forgotten that the group had a fifth member.   
Sho got tears in his eyes. It was ridiculous really. Leftovers weren’t a matter to cry tears over, but the gesture touched Sho. Food was indeed the way to his heart, but he felt as if he had been gone from the face of the earth for so long – it was funny how they would still do this for him. Hoping he would return to his home sooner or later. And when he did, there would still be warmth for him to find.  
Rubbing his nose, sniffing, he opened the lid to find some pasta with tomato and bacon. Definitely one of Jun’s dishes. He had something with Italian food. Sho didn’t know why that had caught his interest, but he didn’t complain. Wasting no time heating it and sitting down on a chair with a plate, he remained standing, eating out of the platic box with a fork.   
It tasted wonderful, and a quiet laughter filled the room. He was laughing idiotically as the taste filled his mouth. Getting happy for such a small thing, he knew it was ridiculous. He couldn’t help it. For days, Sho hadn’t been sure whether he was dead or still alive, lying in the darkness, hurting all over, seeing the world burn. And he hadn’t been sure whether he would ever wake up. If he wanted to wake up.   
But it was, after all, still worth living in this world. The world was still here. Though it wasn’t quite his to love.  
  
Sho was almost finished with the food, still standing in the middle of the kitchen, when the door opened and cheerful voices finally shattered the silence.  
“And Aiba, you were awesome! Smacking him down with a light pole like that. He sure didn’t see that one coming,” Nino laughed, jumping into the room as the first one,  
“Un, sugoi Aiba-chan,” Riida’s calm voice joined in,  
“But if it wasn’t for you distracting him Nino, I might never have been able to hit him. I mean, he was fast too! And you know how I am with chases, I really can’t…”  
“Haha, you always trip over empty air, Aiba-chan,”   
They all laughed, and Sho’s heart ached.  
Jun was the last one to enter, and as soon as he did, his face with a quiet smile was the only thing Sho saw. The other’s voices became unintelligible, their faces blurry, as they no longer held his attention. The youngest member was poking Aiba’s shoulder, grinning at him, joining in on the good-hearted bullying. A soothing coolness swept over Sho, leaving him staring wide-eyed at the man with the dark hair and the big eyes framed by long eyelashes. Had he always been this beautiful?  
Jun suddenly stopped, looking at Nino, and Sakurai’s eyes wandered over the group to find Kazunari staring at him, stopped dead in his tracks. Now the rest of them looked at Sho as well.  
He didn’t know what to say. It was suddenly quiet again. Had he ruined the good mood? Had it all been better without him? He wanted to be the one to break the wall, wanted to reach for them, but he found that he couldn’t. The world was standing still around him, and still he felt discouraged – were they still his friends?  
Then, all of a sudden, Ohno walked past Ninomiya, making his way through the living room, reaching Sho.  
“Are you feeling better, Sho-kun?”   
His voice was as gently as always, his eyes kind, and Sho nodded silently, fighting a nervous smile and losing.  
Riida’s face lit up,   
“Yokatta,”  
And then the other’s joined in too, the ice breaking.  
“You missed beating up a real tough one today, Sho-chan. A real big bully. But not quite as much of a badass as Aiba, - eh Aiba-chan? You showed him,” Nino almost jumped into Sho’s arms, leaning on his shoulder, peering into the empty Tubberware.  
“Um…” Sho began, looking from the food over to Jun who had walked closer, but still remained at a safe distance.  It would always be like this with Jun, “The food… It tasted good. Uh…”  
“Good. I’m glad you liked it.”    
Matsumoto was looking into Sho’s eyes when Sho dared lifting them again, and he was smiling. Though his arms were crossed and his tone of voice was cocky.  
Sakurai beamed back at him. A stone lifted from his heart.   
  
A couple of hours passed, the other members throwing themselves down onto the sofas or retreating to their rooms after a long, tiring day of fighting. And Sho had been walking in circles all the while. It seemed like he had been forgiven, but he still didn’t feel right. He really needed to apologize.  
“Sho-chan, you are making me dizzy. I can’t focus on my game like this,” Ninomiya finally grumbled from the sofa where he was occupied with his games, “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but get it _over_ with. Or you’ll drive us both nuts.”  
Sho stopped and looked over at the other man. He was right. Waiting wouldn’t exactly make it easier.   
So he finally made his way out of the living room with a sigh, heading for the private rooms. Normally, he would never knock on a fellow member’s door and disturb him – it was their retreat after all – but it somehow didn’t feel as wrong as it would have a few days earlier. Going into the other’s room… With Jun, it didn’t feel as alien. For some odd reason.  
Stopping in the dimly lit surroundings, he found himself face to face with the door. Wasting no time – he had done plenty of that – he knocked two times.   
_I hope he isn’t home._  
The door opened. And Jun’s frame filled the small gap to his room. He lifted his eyebrows.  
“Sho-san? What is it?”  
Why did he have to ask? That didn’t exactly make things easier.  
“Um, I… Um, Jun, I just wanted to talk with you about something,”   
Scratching the back of his head nervously, and biting the inside of his cheek out of habit. Wow, wasn’t he the brave one? And why did Jun look so relaxed?  
Shrugging his shoulders, “Ok.” he took a step towards Sho to close the door behind him. He was suddenly very, very close. Too close for comfort. And the hallway seemed very narrow. But Sakurai didn’t want to step back - that would seem rude. He had come here to talk to him, and he didn’t want to seem afraid or nervous about it. As clear as it was. And Jun smelled good.   
Matsumoto was waiting patiently, tilting his head, looking at Sho with his clear, honest eyes. For a man with emotions all over the place, he was impossible for Sho to read.  
“I just wanted to…” a deep breath, “Apologize. I mean… I’m not sure how long ago it was, because… Well, on my birthday. I’m very sorry for being so rude to you Matsumoto-kun,” daring to dive into the other man’s deep brown eyes, Sho looked apologetic at him. He hoped Jun could, if not feel, then, see how bad he felt. How much it hurt inside him to think about how he must’ve hurt Jun, “I was just... Not myself. I don’t know.” Sho shook his head and looked down.  
He could clearly remember the red colour behind his eyes, the way Matsumoto had seemed to emit the very toxin that caused his powers to scream within him and mess up his head.  
“I wish I didn’t yell at you like that. When you had gone through so much trouble to… well, yeah,”  
This was difficult. As he swallowed a lump, he felt a hand on his shoulder.  
The wave that washed over him was pleasantly cool.  
“I understand,”  
Jun was searching for his eyes, bending down to catch them, to reassure Sho with a light smile:   
“You don’t have to apologize anymore Sho. I understand,”   
And Sho believed him. The hand gently squeezing his shoulder, the soothing emotions washing all over his insides; He believed Jun.  
He bit his lower lip and smiled brightly at his friend, “So, I was wondering if the gift card is still useable?”   
And then the younger man lit up, grinning back at him, but let go of his shoulder, “Sure. I thought you’d change your mind sooner or later.”  
As he was about to turn around to look for it in his room, Sho stopped him by grabbing his wrist. It wasn’t until he felt as if electricity sparked at the touch that he realized what he had done. Usually, he was not one for physical contact. Especially not between him and Jun. Maybe this was why.  
“Do you want to come with me?”  



	11. Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Christmas; Jun is in the kitchen, Aiba is eating too many cookies, Ohno's hunting for a golden star, and Nino is sulking.

It was starting to smell of food and pine needles in all nooks and crannies of Arashi’s big apartment. The air was warm and comfortable, and Sho was smiling to himself. With Jun preparing the dinner in the kitchen, and Aiba running back and forth in the living room, a grin on his face, nothing seemed to be merrier. Well, maybe Nino’s mood could be a bit better.  
The smaller man was sulking on the couch, unmoving with the exception of when he leaned forward to grab a chocolate and put it in his mouth, seemingly not interested in anything else. Well, Sho couldn’t really blame him – his boyfriend still hadn’t come home.   
Ohno was still in town fixing some problems with the grand Christmas tree in the center-square. Apparently someone had stolen the golden star from the top, and it was Ohno’s job to find the robber and bring the star back. When the job had come up, none of the other’s had volunteered – you couldn’t really blame them. It was Christmas Eve, and there was so much to do: Jun had to fix the dinner, he really COULD NOT go, Sho had agreed to that – no Jun, no dinner. Aiba had been too busy playing with the Christmas decorations to hear, Ninomiya had pouted and pretended not to listen, and Sho really didn’t want to. Maybe he had been too selfish. Now that he saw how bored Nino was, he really felt bad – if he had been the one to wait for a lover, he would’ve sulked just as much. He might’ve been slightly angrier though, perhaps locking himself in his room, not caring about Christmas at all, when it didn’t include his loved one.    
His head turned towards Jun who looked so focused, concentrating on stuffing the duck that he looked nearly ready to put his face in there with the apples and prunes.  
_Not that he had a loved one…_   
He couldn’t help wondering what he and Jun had though. Over the past couple of weeks, things had become a bit odd between them. All things considered, it shouldn’t be a surprise to Sho. As neither could affect the other with their powers, their moods clashed more than often, Sho’s huge temper and the emotions Jun carried on his skin.   
And the strange power Matsumoto Jun had over Sho, despite it all.  
Biting his lip, he remembered his awful dreams, particularly bad last month. And Matsumoto had fixed it. Well, he hadn’t made them go away, but his presence had done something inside Sho’s mind. As if gently wrapping his powers in cotton, lulling them to sleep. And Sho couldn’t deny the growing affection he had begun to feel towards his fellow member. Whether it had something to do with Jun’s powers, Sho did not know. Honestly, he didn’t want to know. He didn’t stand a chance. Not with how he treated Matsumoto…  
  
“Sho-chan!”  
He turned his head as Nino’s voice broke his thoughts. Had he finally got his ass off from the couch?  
Then a green weed was shown into his face.   
“Sho-chan! Mistletoe!” he yelled right into his ear, and he backed a few steps away, trying to push the bush away from blocking his vision.  
“Get out of my face, Nino,”  
But the smaller man just laughed at his grumbling and followed him, staying inside his bubble, “When you step under a mistletoe, anyone’s allowed to kiss you~!”   
“But I didn’t step under no plant, you practically threw it at me!”  
Oh great. When the gamer didn’t sulk he was a pain in the ass. It was a wonder that Riida could cope with this annoying midget.  
Ninomiya ignored Sho’s disapproving look and leaned forward, trying to catch his lips in a kiss.   
“Go away!” Sho said, turning his head, as the other member grabbed for it, “You’re annoying!”  
When Nino finally caught his head between his chubby hands – one of them holding the mistletoe, nearly poking the rapper in the eye – seemingly having Sho trapped, the older man placed his palm square in the gamer’s face, earning a grunt in return.  
“No way. Save it for Riida,”  
And then he pushed Kazunari away, making him stumble back a few steps. No way was he kissing the other member. Sho growled when Nino’s bottom lip jutted out and he pouted, trying a different tactic. But when the rapper didn’t react and just walked past him, pretending to check that a Christmas decoration wasn’t falling down from the wall, he forgot about him and jumped his way over to Aiba.  
That left Sakurai with exactly twenty seconds before the brat would return. Because Aiba probably did not mind the attention.   
“Kiss me Masaki!”   
He heard as he stroked the pine branch absentmindedly.   
_Ohno, come home soon please._  
     
He had to cope with Nino another hour, being chased around the entire apartment with no way of avoiding the annoying branch. When showing it up Sho’s face didn’t work, the gamer tried other different strategies, seemingly having a ton of fun doing so; he hung up it over the bathroom door, attacking Sho as he wanted to take a leak – Sho only just had time to jump out of the way and run to the extra bathroom mumbling curses under his breath; he drew a rope across the floor, tightening it as Sho walked by, sending the poor man face down on the floor, and earning a smack across the head in return as well as the robe tying itself tightly around his body; he snuck under Sho’s chair and tied the mistletoe to the older man’s jeans with a red ribbon, yelling that now anyone who wanted to could kiss the target, and to this Sho ran desperately into the kitchen, screaming bloody murder, and hiding behind Jun as Aiba and Nino fought over who could kiss him first. In the end, Matsumoto scolded them and sent them all out of his kitchen for ruining his concentration.   
At last, Sho was so tired that he sat down on the couch in resignation. Ninomiya was there in a heartbeat, sitting down on his lap, blabbering something about always winning. But now Sakurai was just so damn indifferent anyway that he let the man lean forward, ready to give his friend a fat wet kiss right on the lips. Just then, they heard the door closing, followed by muffled footsteps bringing along a sleepy-looking Satoshi.  
“Riida!!”   
Sho grunted as Kazunari instantly left his lap and jumped Riida, forgetting everything about kissing Sho.  
“When you step underneath mistletoe, anyone can kiss you, you know.” He told the other man, showering him in kisses.   
It took a few seconds for Riida to react, but he eventually wrapped his arms around the middle of his fellow member without asking questions.   
Sakurai averted his eyes to the mistletoe lying beside him on the couch, shaking his head, feeling just a tiny bit warm inside. Matsumoto stuck his head of out the kitchen for a second, looking at the couple getting comfortable before he caught Sho’s eye and sent him a grin along with a small shrug. At least the other members were off the gamer’s hook for now.   
  
When MatsuJun finally called for everyone to sit down, because dinner was ready, Sho was the first one at the table. He was starving and he couldn’t wait to taste Jun’s Christmas cooking. Ohno and Nino came close behind, but to everyone’s surprise, Aiba didn’t pop up as usual. Then they heard a groaning sound in the corner. The hyper member had finally calmed down, but was now sprawled messily across the big tv-chair.   
The look on his green face sent Sho into a roar of laughter. The man had in his enthusiasm not only nearly knocked over the Christmas tree, but he had also eaten so many Christmas cookies that he felt sick. As much as he loved food, such a thing was beyond Sho after all. He’d rather wait for Jun’s dinner than eat too many sweets. As yummy as they were.  
“Come on Aiba-chan, at least join us at the table,” Matsumoto said.  
And Sho knew how much it meant for the younger man to have all five members around the table in each other’s company.   
“Ugh, I don’t feel so good,” was the answer they got.  
“There won’t be any left for you when I get started anyway,” Sho tried in a teasing voice, earning a stern look from Jun thrown over his shoulder.   
Sho snorted, catching Masaki’s eye. Of course there was no way the rapper could eat Aiba’s share as well, but for Jun’s sake, he wanted the sick member to join them. In the end Aiba got out of the chair and sat down between Sho and Jun, smiling apologetically to the youngest member and grinning half-heatedly to the older one.  
With all of them finally seated calmly – all for different reasons - around the table, Jun placed the roast in the middle, beaming rather proudly.  
“So, what do you guys think? Pretty good huh?”   
The man really was beaming, and Sho couldn’t help but smile broadly when Jun looked at him. As cool as he’d appeared, the older man was sure that his friend had been half a nervous wreck in the kitchen. Always the perfectionist, he’d want the food to look good and taste great, and he wanted all the members to love it. Somehow, Jun was like that with food. And Sho certainly did not complain.  
They didn’t usually get western food like this, but they’d all agreed that why not – they all needed the protein anyway (quote Matsumoto Jun). And as Matsumoto himself plated the food, Sho threw a glance in Ninomiya and Ohno’s direction. The other three had hardly been allowed to talk to their leader as the gamer almost sat on top of him, claiming most of his attention – which there wasn’t a big amount of to begin with. Despite his lovesick bodyguard, Sho dared to address the oldest member anyway:   
“So, Ohno-kun, I take it the mission went well? Did you catch the star-thief?”  
Jun snorted as he was cutting the roast.   
Ninomiya shot Sakurai a sharp glance for stealing his lover’s eyes away from him.  
“Uun,” the man just grunted, “I couldn’t find him, so I just borrowed some thick golden thread and made a new one.”  
_..._  
Of course.  
Sho stared blankly at the apparent artist while Matsumoto disguised his second snort as a cough. They should’ve known. Riida wasn’t an incapable superhero. He just did things his own way, always thinking out of the box. He didn’t seem to think his way this time was a problem either. One golden star was as good as any wasn’t it? Even if it was handmade by an amateur.   
  
Aiba’s eyes were glassy until the end of dinner where he left to lie down on the couch, occupying it before Kazunari dragged his boyfriend along to snuggle. As he apparently couldn’t wait any longer, he brought Ohno with him as they left the living room, and Sakurai might’ve been the only one to notice the small satisfied smile on Riida’s lips as they vanished down the hallway. As long as they did it in private, the rapper couldn’t care less.   
Instead of just sitting around, he went into the kitchen where Matsumoto had occupied himself with washing the dirty tableware. The dishwasher was gurgling beside him, but as it was full and some of Jun’s precious silverware couldn’t go in it, he had taken up the job of cleaning it by hand. Sho felt bad when he saw the man bent over the sink. Even if he was the youngest, he was doing most of the work in the apartment. He might’ve been the newest addition to their team, but it still wasn’t quite fair to bully him any longer and give him the jobs no one else wanted.   
But still, Sakurai didn’t say anything at first. Instead, he just stood there watching the younger man’s broad back, saw the way the muscles of his shoulders shifted underneath the dark purple shirt as he worked with his hands in the soapy water. Sho swallowed as his eyes trailed downwards, noticing how incredibly nicely those pants hung from Jun’s narrow hips. Before he completely lost his composure, he stepped forward, clearing his throat as well as his head.   
This could end up really badly if not.   
“Matsumoto-kun, let me do that,”   
Jun turned around, brush still in hand as his dark eyes searched Sho’s for some explanation to why he suddenly had an urge to help in the kitchen. The older man instantly looked elsewhere, not wanting to meet Jun’s eyes. Not right now.   
“Um, I mean, you’ve already done so much. Sit down and relax a bit, I’ll handle this. I’ll take care, I promise,” he smiled half-heartedly, stepping into Jun’s space to take the brush out of his hands.  
The touch of Jun’s wet skin against his sent a jolt through Sho, probably causing goosebumps to rise underneath his clothes.  
_Yabai.  
_ Jun had to move now. Why didn’t he move? They were standing so close, next to each other in front of the sink, the kitchen light reflecting in the water and burning Sho’s eyes. Their upper arms were lightly touching as they breathed, and Jun still stared Sho down. He could feel how brown eyes were searching his face without the man uttering a word. Now really wasn’t the best time to feel like this.   
Trying to swallow whatever was blocking his throat, Sho slightly nudged Jun away by pushing the side of his hips against Jun’s, moving into the spot where Jun had stood. The warmth from Jun’s body, however brief and blocked by the fabric of their clothes, was enough to set Sho’s body on fire. Really now, this was inconvenient.   
Immediately occupying himself with the task at hand, Sho put both his hands in the water and fished out a couple of knifes. He was still very much aware of their close proximity and the fact that Matsumoto _still did not go away_. It took more than a minute and the washing of three knifes and a fork before the younger man finally turned away,  
“Okay then. Thanks Sho-kun,”  
As Matsumoto finally left, taking his warmth with him, Sho breathed a sigh of relief.  
“Remember to dry off the wineglasses too right? So no water stains will be left,”  
_Shit._  
If the younger man still hadn’t left the kitchen, he certainly would’ve heard Sho’s deep sigh. Fuck. That was so not good. As Sho turned around in response, he saw that the man had gone. Had there been pain in his voice? Or just indifference? Sho suddenly couldn’t remember. He wanted to put his head in the sink and drown himself. Why was he so stupid and so inconsiderate? Now he’d hurt Jun’s feelings again. _Again._ When he’d just wanted to help. He was hopeless.   
  
The living-room was almost empty when he returned, hands like raisins from all the soap and water. Nino and Ohno still hadn’t returned, and Sho honestly doubted that they would, at least for tonight. Aiba had seemingly gone to bed, running off just after the Christmas tree had been lit and he could tell himself that now he had at least seen it, and it wouldn’t be wrong to withdraw.   
There was only silence filling the room, and the lights were low so the tree could be appreciated that much more in all its glory. Sho stood motionless for a minute, just taking in the sight of all the different colours decorating the tree. Too bad Christmas had come to an end so soon. But then again, it was just an evening like any other. The only exception had been a drunken Nino and an over-hyped Aiba – though the ladder was always hyped.  
The only person in the room aside from Sho was Matsumoto who had occupied the couch, wearing his big glasses and reading a book in the dim light. Those glasses were still insanely ugly. Though Sho had to admit Jun looked cute.   
“You’ll ruin your eyes like that,” he stated awkwardly as he moved towards the furniture, hoping – not without anxiety – that Jun would move his legs, and make room for him too.  
Matsumoto didn’t answer, but he looked up from the pages, and watched as Sho sat down on the other side of the couch, pulling his legs only so far up that there was room for Sho’s butt on the cushion. Sakurai felt the now familiar rush of heat to his cheeks as he felt Jun’s toes snuggle under his left thigh to get warm. If Jun had done this with Riida, with Nino, with Aiba, Sho wouldn’t have considered the deeper meaning of the gesture. But would Jun ever do something like that with Sho? He surely couldn’t remember if it had happened before.  
He sat there stiffly, hands on his thighs, staring straight ahead as Jun returned to his book. Well… This was definitely awkward.   
Maybe he should just go to bed.   
But the warm light around him, the smell of candles and cinnamon cookies, kept him in place, and as he focused on that, he began to relax. Finally, he decided to give his nerves a rest and reached for the bowl of cookies, bringing it with him as he turned in the sofa, back against the armrest, feet beside Jun’s. Aiba hadn’t left more than a tenth of what had been in the bowl to begin with, but nevertheless Sho happily started stuffing his mouth, snug in the company of his fellow member.   
Matsumoto stayed absorbed in his book, and Sho eventually substituted the cookie bowl with the plate of chocolates that Ninomiya had been entertaining himself with before he got that stupid mistletoe-idea.   
He had just plopped the fourth piece of goodness into his mouth when his evening companion spoke up,  
“You’ll ruin your body like that,”  
Sho stopped chewing, and stared across the space between them to look into Jun’s serious eyes, raised just above the book, head still low.  
He snorted, giving himself time to swallow the chocolate, “It’s Christmas, come on.”  
Another piece of candy entered his mouth for good measure, and Jun’s lips quivered, as if he was trying to hold back a smile.   
“You didn’t seem to care about my shape when you prepared Christmas dinner anyway. You know I won’t stop until there’s no sauce left,”  
Jun laughed at that, one of his short, honest laughs that lit up his whole face. How long had Sho loved that laugh without noticing?  
“And like that, I don’t think I’ll stop eating chocolates until the bowl’s empty,” Sho said, finger hovering while he tried to decide which chocolate to choose.  
He felt Jun’s feet rubbing against his, as the man’s attention abandoned his book, and he suddenly bent forward on the couch. A hand other than his own reached into the bowl and stole a sweet before Sho could make up his mind of choosing, and as he looked up, he stared straight into two brown orbs, centimeters from his own, shining as a childish grin was plastered on Jun’s face.   
“Oi!”  
“I’m just helping you finish the bowl before you get fat,” Matsumoto laughed again, now being the one to stuff his face.  
Sho wondered how the man seemingly didn’t care if he got a chocolate with marzipan or strawberry cream, since he just picked at random.   
“I’m not fat!” the telepath exclaimed, horrified.  
Looking down and over his body, he had to make sure anyway, because what if, for some strange reason, he had gotten fat during the course of the evening? What if he had eaten so much that he had gained a lot of weight? How much had he eaten? He couldn’t remember.  
The bowl was then taken out of his hands, and his head snapped up. Was that punk stealing _all_ of them now?  
“Sharing is caring,” was all Matsumoto said as a stupid excuse to Sho staring straight at him, wanting an explanation for this outrageous behavior.  
“Exactly. Hey, don’t eat them all!”  
Sho reached over, pulling at one side of the bowl, struggling to pull it towards himself. His greedy side tended to get the best of him in situations like this. But Matsumoto was just laughing, pulling the bowl back, holding onto it tightly,  
“You’ve had your share already. I cooked dinner, I deserve a treat,”  
“I did the dish washing!”   
During the fight over the bowl, Sho did get to eat three more chocolates though, laughing all the while, and he too no longer caring what was in the truffles. It became a competition of who could eat the most, and more than once one of them was close to choking on the chocolate, just causing the other to laugh even louder.   
Only one was left in the end, and Sho prepared to fight Jun with tooth and claw, suspecting it would be a long fight. But strangely, the younger member let go of the bowl the second they both realized that they had nearly eaten them all.   
As the glass was now left in Sho’s hands, he shot Jun a questioning look. _Why?_  
But his friend just smiled, and leaned back against the back of the couch, sighing happily, and patting his stomach. And Sakurai didn’t stop to realize how his stomach was as full as it could be. He didn’t ask as he took the last chocolate between his fingers and put it between his lips, savoring the taste of caramel. _Lucky!_  
He knew his face was beaming with content, a smile of pure bliss plastered across it as he looked at Jun again, wanting to thank him.   
Closing the small distance between them, he leaned to the side to kiss Jun’s cheek.   
It wasn’t until he had already done it, seeing Jun’s frozen expression that he actually realized what he had done.   
_…_  
Then his eyes found a bushy savior on the floor.  
Sho bent down to pick it up, showing it to Jun,  
“Mistletoe.” He explained, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt.  
With a snort, Matsumoto shook his head.   
_Safe._  



	12. Aiba's turn to clean the flat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Aiba's turn to clean the apartment, and the other member's are far from helpful..

They all took turns for the job. The weekly cleaning of the whole flat, not including each member’s private room. Which was quite a relief really. Aiba definitely didn’t want to roam through Ohno’s smelly socks lying everywhere, or Nino’s empty cupnoodles from the week before, and he certainly didn’t want to have to clean up all Sho’s newspapers and magazines because damn, that man’s room was probably the messiest. Jun’s room would most likely be okay, the neatest, but then again… What if the man had dirty secrets in there? Aiba could imagine it. With all his weird fetishes, that Matsumoto Jun…  
Anyway, he would have to clean up the kitchen, the living room and the bathrooms. As the youngest member also managed to keep the kitchen neat, the worst would probably be the living room. Not only because food and stuff would be lying everywhere, but also because the other members would be in the way all the time. The thought of Nino sitting in front of the screen playing Nintendo, refusing to move, already made Masaki tired. Ohno would probably silently soar out to his garden, he wouldn’t be a problem, and neither would Jun, because he thought cleaning so important. But Sho would probably constantly be in the way, going about his business, not caring at all about Aiba having to clean the floor, and then the sofa, and the kitchen. If he wanted to read, he’d stay in the sofa, if he wanted to speculate, he’d wander back and forth on the carpet, if he wanted food, he’d roam through the kitchen. The worst part was probably his temper. If he got mad… Aiba would have to start all over again.  
Oh yes, Masaki Aiba did love his friends, but they also tended to be a freaking pain in the butt. Any today should turn out to be particularly annoying.   **  
  
** It was no easy job for a man as strong as Aiba to move around the small things. Vases and flowers that MatsuJun and Ohno insisted on having around the apartment tended to smash between his fingers even as gentle as he thought he was with them. Sometimes when they didn’t see, he’d skip cleaning underneath them just to avoid the trouble he’d get afterwards, but today Ohno didn’t give him a choice.  
“Aiba-chan always forgets to dust off underneath my flowers,” the older member said, as he hovered beside Masaki’s head, “So today I’ll keep an eye on you.”  
How he could say it in that tone of his, all grumpy and comical at the same time. Aiba sighed, and with brows furrowed together in concentration, he lifted the first vase with utmost care. It was a particularly pretty blue one matching the yellow flowers in it, so he really didn’t want to ruin it. He actually managed to gingerly set it on the ground, dust off underneath it, but as he lifted it, he was surprised when Nino yelled, “NANDE DAYO~!”  
One would’ve thought he scolded Aiba, but it was only his game. Apparently he was losing, but how would Aiba know? That second, he didn’t have time to figure out either, because his hands were bleeding, glass splinters from the vase everywhere.  
…  
Ohno was silently sulking beside him, while Masaki himself was just looking at his hands sadly. It didn’t even matter that he was bleeding. That vase had been an awkward gift from Ninomiya to Riida. For Masaki to have ruined it… Nino didn’t seem to mind though. He probably would never notice.   
****  
It was also a big problem for a man as strong as Aiba to vacuum clean. Pulling the vacuum cleaner after him tended to be rather problematic. If he pulled the machine too strongly, the wire or worse, the tube, would break in half, rip a whole or the like. That’s why he always lifted it gently, put it down, vacuum cleaned around him, and picked it up again. It took a great deal of time, but if it kept him from breaking it, and getting scolded afterwards by Sho - who would tell him that they were keeping a tight budget -, he was willing to do almost anything.  
The same thing was the case today, aside from the fact that Sakurai was already in a bad mood, because Jun had brought home his new girlfriend the previous day. So steam was still rising from the rapper’s ears (or so Masaki imagined) as he sat in the sofa, legs up on the small table, reading the newspaper, but clearly not reading at all judging by his rapid leg movements.  
“Ano… Sho-chan. Could you please move so I can clean the sofa?” Aiba asked timidly, poking his head in beside Sakurai.  
He grumbled. The usual sunshine boy gulped.  
“Sho-san?”  
And then Sakurai’s eyes finally met his, as he wrestled his head away from the letters of the newspaper, and glared at Aiba. Mad. He clearly did not want to answer, and then Aiba felt a slight tugging at machine tube he was holding. With a squeal, he saw that the vacuum cleaner had lifted from the ground. He just had time to exclain a muffled “No!” before the machine hit the roof and the tube broke in half.  
… _Sigh._  
   
It wasn’t a problem though, for a guy as strong as Aiba to move the furniture and carry sofa pillows, and carpets out to get dusted off outside. It was a problem though, when a guy like Jun was doing his yoga exercises in the middle of the living room, sitting on the carpets, using the sofa once in a while.   
Masaki Aiba was about to have had enough. And this guy was younger than him, the only one out of the members of Arashi, so he for one HAD to move, when Aiba asked him to!  
Pillow in hand, he walked towards MatsuJun who was sitting, eyes closed in a weird pose that Aiba couldn’t even begin to understand. That man had no bones in his body, Masaki was sure.  
“MatsuJun?” he asked, getting a “Hm?” in return.  
“Ano, I was wondering if I could get you to move so I can get the carpet outside?”  
Of course the youngest member wouldn’t move away.  
And Masaki began to lose patience.  
  
For the toilets it shouldn’t really have been that much of a problem. If it wasn’t because Nino had it occupied for an hour. Aiba wondered if he had taken refuge there with his DS…  
In the end, it took him all day. Chasing the other members in and out of rooms, sometimes getting hurt (by Sho) in the process, sometimes getting yelled at by Ninomiya.  
Finally being finished, he sought refuge outside. He felt tired all over. Even tired in his head. And sad. Why should it be so hard to actually do something for the other members? It was their house too. They should care to let him clean it. And he had ruined stuff in the process. Windows, which made Sho mad. Vases, which should make Ohno or Nino mad. Kitchen tools which made Jun mad.  
He felt miserable. And he usually did his best to stay happy.  
“Kore.”  
A carrot was showed in his face. He followed the gloved hand with his eyes and saw Ohno standing over him. As usual, his expression was kind of blank, but nevertheless very kind. Like Riida always was.  
“Arigatou…” he managed to answer quietly, looking down as he took the orange vegetable in his hand.  
It tasted like earth and grass. But of love too.  
“Otsukaresama.”  
And that was all Aiba needed. He smiled.  



	13. Fright

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninomiya suggests they hold a horror-movie night, and Sho finds himself outnumbered in his objections, reluctantly forced to undergo an evening of torture.

It was Nino’s idea. Of course it was Nino’s idea. Whom other than that little sadistic mastermind could’ve thought up such a brilliant (heavy sarcasm) idea?   
Sho wasn’t sure if it was an excuse to cuddle with Riida or watch the other three squirm in their seats, or both. Either way, as soon as MatsuJun chimed in about how he wanted to watch The Grudge, and Ohno just grunted that sure no problem, Aiba and Sho’s votes didn’t count. Three against one, and the two scaredy-cats lost the discussion.   
And that was how Sakurai found himself squeezed in between idiot number 1 and Ninomiya Kazunari, the devil himself. What a great combo. He might as well lie down and die now. His doom was already decided. ****  
He watched as Jun crawled across the carpet on all fours, putting the disc into the dvd-player. And he thought he heard Nino snort beside him, hoping it wasn’t the man’s way of expressing that he indeed noticed how Sho’s eyes flickered to the youngest member’s behind. Despite wanting to turn to Nino and hit him across the head, he didn’t want to give him the credit, and instead he just pretended he hadn’t heard the guy. No use in admitting his crush on their fellow friend. That would just complicate matters even more, considering how the brat definitely couldn’t, and _wouldn’t_ keep his mouth shut.    
“You guys ready?” Matsumoto asked, flashing the four others an excited smile as he waved the remote.  
Why he was that excited, Sho could already guess. Did he just recognize the spark of evil in those eyes as they met his? Definitely.  
Another reason why he hated Matsumoto Jun. Damn DoS.  
Sho grabbed for the nearest pillow, reaching over Aiba, to whom he gave no further comment. The strong man wasn’t gonna claim them all, even if Sho suspected his courage to be less than Sho’s. Now hugging the pillow, he turned his head towards the screen.   
Matsumoto had crawled over, sitting on the floor by Sho’s feet, his back warming the rapper’s toes. Somehow, Sho felt soothed by his presence, even if it made him feel warm all over. And he still hated the man for putting that ridiculous horror movie on.  
Said movie was starting, and Sakurai already felt like throwing up, cringing when a man jumped down from his balcony, committing suicide.   
This was going to be a terrible evening.  
  
Sho wanted to gag and scream and run far away from the images on the devise in front of him. Only he couldn’t. He didn’t care if the other members made fun of him – how he looked the toughest but was actually a giant chicken. But he didn’t dare turn around and go down the dark corridors now; he didn’t dare to be alone. Because what if the ghost from the movie suddenly showed up in a corner, her hair getting longer as it strangled and squeezed the life out of him? No one would hear him, because the rest of his friends would still be sitting in the living room, laughing at Nino’s stupid jokes about how the woman would definitely come up, riding a bike outside that window in the bus-scene, and then they would all jump in their seats when a face suddenly showed up in said window. No. Sho definitely didn’t want to leave now.  
“Come on Sho-chan! Throw that pillow away, you’re missing the movie,” Nino said beside him, poking him in the ribs which caused Sakurai to squeal like a girl.  
“I don’t care,” he stuttered, shaking his head and hiding his eyes.  
The demon wouldn’t leave him alone. Ten minutes later, in the middle of a particularly scary scene, there was a shadow creeping along on the floor beside Aiba. The telepathic man didn’t fail to notice how it moved in the corner of his eye. He clamped his mouth shut, but turned his head to stare directly at it. He was so terrified he couldn’t even scream,  
“A-Aiba-san...” his voice was a small whine, and it made a wide-eyed Masaki turn his head slowly to look at him.  
Now they were riling each other up, getting more and more scared the longer they stared at each other. Sho pointed behind the other man, “I think there’s something on the floor...”  
Sho could see how his friend didn’t want to look; he could feel his reluctance, as the man turned anyway, slowly, hesitantly. And just as Sakurai could almost see Aiba’s hair standing on end as he watched the moving shade, the shadow suddenly jumped up with a shriek, causing Aiba to scream and jump at Sho, who screamed in return, grabbing onto Aiba and kicking his feet, almost hitting Jun, who’d turned to see what the heck was going on, in the face.   
And then Ninomiya’s laugh filled the room. He fell to the floor, clutching his stomach, enjoying his sick joke as the whole couch swayed and the big chair tilted, both caused by Sho being unable to keep his emotions in check.   
Sho felt like crying, as the younger man beside him began yelling at Nino for being such a horrible friend, such a sadist and a devil and all the other mean words the airhead could come up with. Falling silent, Sakurai drew his legs up, resting his chin on his knees. His lip jutted out a bit as he pouted. This was so not funny. What if he had died of a heart-attack? What if he had killed his fellow members with a table??  
Matsumoto moved around on the floor beside his feet, and Sho glanced down – if only to look away from the movie for a few more seconds. The other man had turned around after avoiding Sho’s kick, and was now looking at Sho and Aiba in turn. He smiled slightly in Sho’s direction,   
“You really don’t have to watch it if you’re too scared Sho-kun,” he said.  
But Sakurai just shook his head stubbornly,  
“I don’t wanna leave now as the only one,”  
At this the younger man straightened up, sitting on his knees to be more at eye-level with his friend,  
“You mean you’re too scared to leave now, is that it?”  
Sho sulked. Was he mocking him?   
“It’s not funny, MatsuJun,” he grumbled, but the younger member was just grinning at him.  
_Well, minus points for that, you ass._  
“Maybe not. I can show you something else that’s funny though,” Jun suggested.  
There had to be some sort of catch, Sho reckoned. Jun was just as sadistic as Nino at least (!); he’d make fun of Sho too, that was certain. But then again, it couldn’t possibly get much worse. He just scowled at Matsumoto though, appearing unimpressed and so-not-in-the-mood.  
Sho just wanted to go to bed and sleep. Only he just couldn’t. He didn’t dare. And that made him mad.  
Then Matsumoto grabbed one of Sho’s ankles affectionately, squeezing once,   
“Look closely,”  
As the man turned his attention away from Sho, he’s eyes fell on Riida, who was sitting quietly in the corner of the couch, seemingly completely unaffected by the scary film. The other’s had almost forgotten about as he just followed along on the screen, chuckling to himself once in a while. But now Jun crept over to him, still cutely on all fours, and Sakurai watched as he placed a hand on Ohno’s knee.  
“Hi,” Matsumoto said, and Sho rolled his eyes.  
This again? It was no secret that the youngest member of the group was fond of his leader, and he certainly didn’t do anything to hide the fact. Good thing Ohno didn’t mind all the affection Jun threw at him. The only one who wasn’t too happy about it was Nino – not surprisingly. And Sho. But that was a secret. And there wasn’t much he could do about it either.   
Feeling even sourer than before, Sakurai turned his head away from the two – he’d rather piss his pants in fright than having to watch those two.   
Short after, Sho saw Matsumoto’s frame crawl past him on the floor though, to take a hold of Aiba’s hand. The other man had finally sat down again, still looking a bit angry, his eyes like daggers as they held onto Ninomiya who was sitting on the floor looking like a grinning Cheshire cat.   
“Hey Aiba-san,”  
_Pff._  
Sho huffed and crossed his legs on the couch. Yeah, so darn funny Matsumoto. - Or not, he thought bitterly. Way to get his hopes just a little bit up before being disappointed. What had he expected anyway? This evening was just getting worse and worse.  
“Nino...”  
The way the sigh was drawn out like a moan made Sho whip his head around to the member beside him. The cushion was left as Masaki suddenly crawled down to the floor to place himself in Ninomiya’s lap. It was hard to decide whose eyes were the biggest, Sho or Nino’s, but it didn’t take long before Ninomiya jumped back in surprise with a yelp.  
“Hey Aiba-chan, hands off,”  
Sakurai’s head turned to the right at Ohno’s aggressive tone. The man never spoke like that. It took less than two seconds before the member with the ability to fly was pulling Aiba away to crush his mouth to Nino’s in a wet kiss.  
Sho’s eyes turned wide as saucers as he followed the scene in front of him. Things were heating up with insane speed, and Kazunari got up with a yell, throwing the two aroused men off of him and stepping back,  
“What is wrong with you?? Aiba, what are you doing? What the hell? Hey! HEY! I have a boyfriend, knock it off. Stop that,”  
The small man tried his best to push Masaki away, but with Aiba’s strength it wasn’t exactly a piece of cake. He only got to escape for a second when Ohno jumped in and shook the ground under Aiba’s feet, causing him to fall over.  
“Hey Kazu, let’s go to your room. The movie was boring anyway,” the eldest member drawled, his voice a purr.  
Sakurai had to tear his eyes away, that was just too weird. And then he saw how Jun was laughing, sitting once more by his feet. When Sho asked if he knew what was going on, he turned towards him,  
“I said I’d show you something funny,” he said, beaming.  
Was he proud of himself?  
“Did you do what I think you did?” Sakurai gaped, asking himself if the question was really necessary.  
“Oh I’ll remove the effect in a minute. I just wanted see the look on Nino’s face,” Jun shrugged before changing the subject, “Here, join me down here, you’ll see the screen better,”  
Matsumoto’s hand shot up to take hold of Sho’s wrist, allowing Jun to drag him down beside him. Sho umpf-ed quietly, suddenly sitting very close to his fellow member.   
“You can turn to me if you get scared, I’ll protect you,”  
At that, Sho pushed Jun’s smiling face out of the way with his palm, rolling his eyes,  
“As if you could protect me, you idiot,”  
But he was thankful for the dim light, perhaps Jun wouldn’t notice his blush. _Such a cheesy comment._  
Matsumoto laughed and slid down to get a comfortable position against the pillows – being so bold as to lean on Sho’s shoulder. Sakurai noted to himself that it couldn’t really be comfortable leaning on such sloping shoulders. But still, he couldn’t get himself to push the younger man off.  
With a change in the setting, the movie really didn’t appear as scary as before. The warmth from Jun’s close proximity kept Sho’s attention elsewhere, but as always, his friend also had a calming effect on the rapper’s emotions. And sitting as close as this, it was as effective as ever.   
  
The two of them became so absorbed in the movie that half an hour passed before Jun remembered to remove the spontaneous arousal from Aiba and Ohno’s minds. And just in time too, as the two other men had almost managed to take all of Nino’s clothes off, and carry him to one of their rooms. It kept Nino from bullying Sho and Aiba for a while though. The gamer had realised he wasn’t the only dangerous one in the group, and certainly not the only one who enjoyed seeing other’s in a pinch either.


	14. Another one of Ninomiya's brilliant ideas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninomiya thinks it's a good idea for Riida to exercise once in a while.

Later, Nino would agree that it might not have been his best idea; to chase Satoshi around the apartment, tickling him every time he stopped to catch his breath. The demon of a man had decided that it was time to get Ohno in gear, up from the couch, out running a bit together with his boyfriend. There was just one thing the gamer had forgotten when initiating his plan.  
The fact that Riida could cause earthquakes in his wake.   
So when he actually took the time to turn around after bullying his lover for hours, he saw the devastation he had caused. Or well, Ohno had caused.  
He smiled, face splitting into a jester-grin filling most of his face,   
“Look what you did now, Oh-chan,” he purred.  
The older man stopped, having sense enough to check what he’d been the cause of now, and Ninomiya grabbed his yellow t-shirt, pulling him close.  
“Better clean up after yourself,” he whispered into Ohno’s neck, mashing his face against the other man’s warm skin like a cat.  
His boyfriend groaned quietly when Nino nipped on his earlobe,  
“You’re not going anywhere right now though,”  
It seemed as if Satoshi stood and stared into space for a while, Nino teasing his neck and jaw unrelentingly with small, wet butterfly kisses. The gamer almost lost patience as Ohno seemed to have fallen asleep standing up, and was about to poke Ohno’s ribs and start another tickle-attack, when he suddenly mewled rather loudly, startled at the hand on his crotch.   
Maybe he wasn’t quite asleep yet.

None of the two seemed to mind the mess then. They were too busy to remember it at all. And in the end, Sho had to do all the tidying and cleaning up, following a trail through the whole house under Jun’s orders. Fortunately, his mind did most of the work. It was also his telepathic abilities that hunted the Ohmiya couple afterwards with Jun’s favorite kitchen knives when he found them making out in the hallway.


	15. How to make Riida angry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jun broke up with his girlfriend, but she just can't seem to accept it.

“Please leave.”  
He wasn’t a man to ever raise his voice or snarl. He’d never yell at you or let his temper run away with him. But there was a stern edge in his tone now, eyes firm as they stared the woman down. She was glaring back at him, eyes going from between the small man to where his fellow member stood, just beside him.  
“It was all his fault! He should apologize! Why should I accept him breaking up with me!? I... I won’t do it.”  
The eldest member took a single step in her direction, putting himself between her and Matsumoto,  
“I told you to go home. Leave Matsumoto alone now.”  
It was always quite a shock to the other members when Ohno became serious like this, and they all remained quiet. That was until Sho, being kind-of the second in command, stepped forward to join his friend,  
“You heard our leader. Leave.”  
The fire in Sakurai’s eyes, and the way his stance was just that more menacing finally convinced the woman, and with a sob, she turned around and marched out of the open door from which she had come.   
Ninomiya sighed in relief,  
“Good grief. I can’t believe Riida had to actually man up before she took the hint. Seriously. Women are such a bother,”  
As he left, he gave Jun a quick pat on the shoulder. The man was having a hard time. Not only did he have trouble sorting out his own feelings – what did he feel and what did he think he felt? – but he also had to deal with the effect of his ex-girlfriend’s emotions as they penetrated his sensitive mind.  
Biting the inside of his cheek, he looked up as Ohno turned to face him with a reassuring smile,  
“Don’t worry Jun-kun. We’ll always watch over you, – ne Sho-kun?”   
The usually hot-headed member nodded and smirked at Jun too,  
“Always,”  
He even seemed a little satisfied with the fact that the girl had left for good.


	16. Ohno actually dug a moat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course Ohno wouldn't have listened. Of course he'd dig himself a damn moat. And Jun obviously does not approve.

As if the oldest member of the group would listen to his friend. When he’d heard Matsumoto utter the word ‘moat’, the rest of the sentence had been static noise. Sometimes Sho wondered if their leader actually walked around with his head filled with dirt, the man could be so dumb sometimes.  
And this day was another such instance.  
The other four members had woken up this morning, following each of their own routines, some getting up later than others, some having nothing more than coffee for breakfast while some(Jun) spent an hour arranging all sorts of healthy stuff. Sho had been so ~~un~~ lucky to taste his spinach juice, which Matsumoto had proudly showed into his face. How the man got through that horrible experience every morning was a wonder to the lieutenant of the group.  
He was leafing through the morning newspaper, checking for possible jobs in town, when there was a loud thump from the door being opened aggressively. Jun was staring incredulously out into the yard when Sho lifted his head to see why the hell the door had deserved such a shove,  
“What the...” the younger man stuttered before flying outside.  
Sho was a bit in doubt whether he should follow the man or not, but when he caught Ninomiya’s eye from across the living room, the gamer looking equally confused, he got up at the same time as the other man. Curiosity killed the cat. Or something.

At first sight, the yard looked quite normal, and Sakurai was about to yell after Jun, who’d run a couple of meters into the big space, that what the hell was wrong with him, but then the man noticed how the grass looked like a moving mirror about three meters ahead. It could’ve been a mirage of the heat from the sun hitting the ground, but as each step took him further forward, it seemed less and less the case. Ninomiya was looking at Sho from the side, unsure of what to do and how to react. They had almost reached Jun when his sudden roar startled them both,  
“OHNO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!?” Jun’s face was twisted in anger and confusion.  
And when Sakurai finally reached his side and he saw what was really in front of him, he understood Matsumoto’s outrage.  
In front of him was water. Probably two meters deep and four meters across. Following it with his eyes, it became clear that it surrounded the whole building. What had the nuthead done now?  
The outrageous sight and Jun’s obvious distress provoked a grin to spread on Sakurai’s face. He couldn’t _not_ see the irony in this. It was too comical.  
“He finally crossed the line didn’t he?” Sho snorted, biting his lip to try and stop his laugh, when Matsumoto shot him a death glare.  
“I’ll make him fix this. That’s for sure,”  
Kazunari was laughing from Jun’s right side, shooting Sho a look now and then, provoking the telepath to laugh along with him. Of course Nino would see the fun in this too. And he probably didn’t mind being stuck on one side of a bloody sea.  
Just as Jun looked like someone who was about to explode, Ohno flew down and landed in front of the youngest member.  
“’Morning Matsumoto-kun. See what I’ve made!”  
He looked so damn proud that Sakurai almost felt bad for what was about to happen, how Jun was going to scold their oldest member. Almost. The scene was just too hilarious for him to step in and stop it.  
Jun looked dumbstruck for a moment, so incredulous that he could barely speak,  
“Ohno-san... You... WHAT. What have you done?!”  
He grabbed the smaller man by the collar, dragging him closer with one hand,  
“You better FUCKING fix this! I TOLD you not to dig a fucking moat. And what did you DO?”  
As always, Satoshi seemed quite unphased,  
“I did it in less than an hour, Jun-kun, I used my powers see. Just splitting the earth to the sea, and then letting in the water. And then I closed it all up again. Isn’t it cool?”  
 Sho hid his face in his hand, his laughter muffled. Oh God, this was hilarious. Yes, it was kinda cool what their leader could do, but Jun didn’t seem impressed,  
“You’re incredible,” Matsumoto let go of Ohno to raise his arms in exaggeration, “Listen, if the garden doesn’t look normal in _ten_ minutes, nicely filled out with dirt, the road to the city fixed, I will personally put a curse on you!”  
That got Satoshi’s head to snap up, eyes wide in fright,  
“And you won’t be able to _get near_ Ninomiya for a _month_!”  
Along with Ohno’s falling face, Sho’s own mirrored his horror-struck expression. That was some threat. And not just a threat. With Matsumoto’s powers, there was no telling what he could do to Kazunari and Satoshi’s relationship for a month.  
The rapper cleared his throat,  
“I’d hurry and do what he says, Ohno-kun. Better clean up this mess,”  
Ninomiya had turned completely silent too.  
Their youngest member could be damn terrifying if he wanted to.

None of them could probably have imagined how sad Riida got.  
He was constantly sulking for a week, quieter than usual. None of Aiba’s dumb jokes or Sho’s clumsy accidents could get him to laugh. And judging from Nino’s grim mood, he was probably not much fun in bed either. Due to Sakurai’s powers he was also able to hear the thoughts running through their leader’s head, and it affected the second-in-command. Ohno had just been really happy with what he had created; that he’d gotten his very own sea right in the backyard, he’d even made plans about fishing there. He’d just failed to see how inconvenient a moat was. They weren’t living in a castle they had to guard against huge armies of iron soldiers.  
From his comfortable living room chair, Sho also managed to follow how Ohno’s emotions affected Jun, and that hurt him even more. He could see how Matsumoto’s expression would change into one of gloom and guilt whenever he was near Ohno. There’d been far less contact between them this week. Normally the youngest member would buzz around Riida like a bee in love, but now they were avoiding each other. As much as Sho liked not having to be jealous of his fellow member all the time, this wasn’t fair.  
By the end of the week, Ninomiya finally told Jun to do something about his Satoshi,  
“Seriously J, can’t you see how sad he is! Do something about it, damn it, or I swear, I’ll go hire a whore. Or a clown. Anything to lighten up this horribly depressing mood,”  
This time, Jun didn’t have an equally snarky remark to fire back, instead he just seemed to shrink even more. Sho wondered why he hadn’t done anything to clear it up yet. Maybe he was hoping that Ohno would forget that stupid moat if he waited long enough. It just didn’t seem to be the case though.  
The following day, Sakurai found the younger man sitting underneath the apple tree outside. Their garden was ridiculously big. In fact, it was more of a field than an actual garden, and it was only because the rapper had searched for him that he was able to find Jun on the other side of the small hill.  
Without a word, he sat down on the soft, green grass beside him, keeping an appropriate distance. He followed Jun’s gaze forward, enjoying the quiet and the gentle warmth from the sun, enabling them both to wear light t-shirts. Jun’s white sleeves bellowed slightly in the wind.  
“You know,” Sho started, still looking across the wide field, “There should be plenty of room for a small lake.”  
He felt Jun glancing at him, and he continued quietly; “We could even add a few fish, and maybe some ducks would visit it in time. That wouldn’t be half bad, I think.”  
A subtle smile crept onto his face at the thought. Masaki would love the ducks. Turning to Jun, he looked into the younger member’s big, brown irises, seeing how childish worry was still filling them. Sho tilted his head,  
“Don’t you think Ohno-kun would enjoy digging a lake?”  
Sakurai couldn’t take his eyes off the man when he nodded slightly, trying for a smile too. This was fragile Jun, a person who rarely showed himself, hiding under all those strong barriers of various talents and a bold temper.  
Sho wanted to touch his cheek, run a thumb across it gently, or take his hand and hold onto it, show the man that of course it was ok to be unsure sometimes. Instead he patted his head, ruffling his soft hair with a chuckle,  
“Don’t look so down. It’s just a damn moat. Ohno-kun just wants his fish. If a lake is too much, then give him an aquarium. What I mean is, I’m sure he’s not mad at you MatsuJun, he’s just such a child sometimes.”  
Matsumoto let him ruffle his hair, a happy expression slowly returning and lighting up his features,  
“You know that feeling, don’t you?”  
“Hey!”  
With a false-insulted tone, Jun swatted Sho’s hand away. For the older member though, it was so sudden that the force caused him to lose balance and tilt backwards into the grass. Had he wanted to avoid it, it probably would’ve been possible, but with the anticipation of the soft layer underneath taking his weight easily, he didn’t mind.  
But then the sun was blocked out by Matsumoto’s shadow, or his body more like, hovering above Sho, something the rapper hadn’t expected. One could’ve been tricked to believe that the momentum had knocked them both down, but afterwards Sakurai would ask himself if Jun hadn’t just taken the opportunity before realizing what he was doing.  
Supporting himself with his arms on either side of Sho’s head, the youngest member was looking down at his friend, eyes a confusing mix of surprise and wonder.  
The telepath gulped. Well, this was... Heat was flushing his cheeks and blood rushed to inappropriate places. For what felt like minutes, they just stared at each other. A small spasm moved Sakurai’s fingers. He wanted to touch Jun. He wanted to reach up and take his handsome face between his hands; he wanted to weave his fingers through his brown hair. He even felt a huge desire to touch the other man’s torso, reach his hands around the man’s upper body and run them along his spine. But he held himself back, he didn’t move, just lay stiff as a board. He just didn’t dare. Even if the evidence of his fellow member’s desire was staring him straight in the eye, breathing warm air into his face.  
In the end, Jun sighed and let him go, letting the sun back into his face as he leaned back onto his knees, looking down rather awkwardly.  
“I guess... You’re right,” he finally broke the silence.  
Sho looked up at him, instantly regretting that he hadn’t just followed his body’s wishes to take Jun in his arms.  
“A lake wouldn’t hurt anyone,”  
Matsumoto smiled at him, and Sakurai breathed a sigh of relief. For more than one reason.  
“Right.”

The result of Jun’s decision left little of Satoshi’s freetime to accompany the other members, but in return force fed them fish for a week until they felt like puking. 


	17. Unexpected dates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arashi arranges to eat dinner out together one evening. Three of them decide to cancel last minute though.

This was just not happening, Sho thought as he stared at his watch. Which was stupid actually. It wasn’t as if it came down to what time it was. It was not like his fellow members were late or had forgotten that they were all supposed to go out for lunch this afternoon, the five of them.   
A few minutes ago, Ohno had called Sho to inform him that Ninomiya had stumbled and hurt himself, and that he was gonna take him to the hospital. That was at least what Sho had gotten out of the mumbling, slightly hard-to-understand words in the phone. It was rather odd. Nino wasn’t the type to just fall down and hit himself. And Ohno couldn’t even drive a car.  
As for Aiba, at the last moment he had found out that today was the 1-month-anniversary for him and his girlfriend, so he had rushed to meet up with her for a movie. Did couples really celebrate something as ridiculous as that?  
And so, that left Sho standing in front of Roppongi station, all alone. Or well. That was until Matsumoto Jun showed up.   
Well, wasn’t this fantastic.  
The thought of blowing it all off did cross Sakurai’s mind, as he saw the youngest member sweeping towards him, hands in his pockets. He was wearing a black t-shirt with V-neck and his long legs were covered in loose sand-coloured pants, his walk as swaying and confident as always. Sho’s heart started beating a bit faster as Jun lifted his eyes to look into his. Those brown orbs and the slightly arrogant, unimpressed curve to his lips, that was Jun’s signature, could make any girl swoon, and that went for Sho as well. Which was why he wanted to call it all off. But when the other man finally reached him, sending him a small smile, Sho wasn’t sure he could bear it.  
“So, when will the others arrive?” Jun asked, swaying a bit from side to side, looking giddy.  
Sakurai’s heart couldn’t help but swell at the change in MatsuJun. How he went from confident and haughty to looking like an excited child.  
He definitely couldn’t bear it.  
“Well… Aiba had to meet his girlfriend,” he began, rubbing the back of his head, “And well… Nino got hurt, so Ohno is taking him to the hospital.”  
He could see how Jun’s face fell. Disappointment painted all over his strong face, his smile gone. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times looking like he was at loss.  
“How dare they?!” He snapped then, but then changed his tone when Sho didn’t reply. He didn’t really know what to say. Matsumoto sighed.  
“Then I suppose we have to call it…”  
“But now they got us all the way out here, right?” Sakurai interrupted, “I mean, I’m starving right now so… Might as well get something to eat, right?”  
He was suddenly nervous, all fidgety as he saw how the other man’s mood was on a steep decline. There was a hard set to his lips all of a sudden, his brows furrowed. That was the thing with Jun. As mature as he seemed when he took care of all of them, cooking them dinner, watching their health, sometimes he could be very childish. Quick to disappointment and thereby anger. But also way too quick to happiness. He was easy to handle in that aspect, knowing what he liked and what he disliked, but adding his power to control emotions, it complicated things. Luckily for Sho, he didn’t have to worry about the supernatural power at least, thanks to his own strong mind. That didn’t really make this situation easier for him though. Considering his feelings for Jun.  
Despite Sho’s suggestion, Matsumoto started to look impatient, a sigh escaping his lips. Sho got even more desperate. Was it really that bad to hang out with just him? Did Jun dislike him? Had he done something to make the other member annoyed at him? Maybe he wasn’t as exciting as Aiba, as comfortable as Ohno, or as fun as Nino, but didn’t he have at least one positive thing about him too? Was he that boring?  
“We could get soba!” he then added quickly, “I know a good place a friend showed to me. And I know one of the cooks. I think you’ll like it.”  
Maybe he was trying too hard. But he knew how much Jun liked soba. How he loved healthy food. So if not that, then probably nothing could keep the younger man from returning home.   
To his surprise, Jun actually looked at him again, one eyebrow raised. He was considering it.  
“Come on. I don’t wanna eat alone.” Sho then begged childishly – pouting, shoulders falling down further.  
Maybe that was pushing it. Matsumoto raised his eyebrows though, opening his mouth to suck in a quick breath, a weird sparkle in his eyes. Perhaps Sho had imagined it, because MatsuJun quickly relaxed again, as it wasn’t a big deal, shrugging,  
“Well okay. Since we got here already.” He finally stepped closer to Sho, “Is it far?”  
  
It made Sho so happy.   
The food had improved Jun’s mood immensely, it seemed, and he was now beaming happily, slurping the food as gracefully as he did everything else. And the older man couldn’t help but smile as he took a draught of his beer. They had been seated on the second floor, rather privately as Sho had become quite acquainted with the owner of the restaurant, and so had arranged for them to be alone. He had thought Jun would like some privacy. And he didn’t mind being alone with Jun either. Even if it made him nervous as fuck. It took a lot of control for him not to stumble when he sat down, or to knock things over, spilling soba noodles on the floor. Ok, he admitted he had had to use his powers more than once. Just slightly. Without anyone noticing, a small part of his mind would reach out a tentacle to grab the chair before it fell, or keep the soup from sloshing out of the bowl, when he moved it a bit too roughly. He was usually quite neat with his food, not very fond of spilling his things, but having Matsumoto so close to him, all alone, made all his nerves stand on an end.   
He was a grown man, so it wasn’t all nervous jitters. Watching the man across from him eat was very stressful. Jun was holding his chopsticks in a very manly way, never looking stupid even when eating the wheat noodles, adding different kinds of vegetables to the cold stock. He sat upright in the chair, back straight and with his legs crossed under the table. And once in a while he would finally look up, and catch Sho’s eye, even when he tried not to make it obvious that he was staring, and he’d smile, looking all cute and happy with his mouth full. It truly made Sho happy to see Jun happy. But when one of them would move, their legs would brush against each other under the small table, - ever so slightly, and the blood in Sho’s veins would all go down south, making his pants feel a bit too constricting. And that was truly not very convenient.  
“Thank you, Sho-san.” Jun said, once his bowl was empty. “It was very nice of you to bring me here.”  
Sakurai smiled, waving his hand dismissively,   
“No problem. I mean, it’s not your fault that the others stood us up. At least we can still go out and enjoy ourselves right?”  
“Right…” Jun agreed, his voice trailing off.  
That weird sparkle returned to his eyes, as he suddenly looked rather intensively at Sho. Sakurai broke eye contact instantly, his heart choosing to skip a beat. This really wasn’t the time. They had to leave now, if he was to control himself.   
Grabbing his towel, he prepared to get up, actually making it as far as opening his mouth to conclude the day. But the sense of being electrocuted stopped him.  
Jun’s leg was rubbing against his. Not just slightly, it wasn’t just a movement, a change in position, the movement was too intentional. In shock, Sho looked at Jun again.  
The man was leaning forward, elbows resting on the table, hands clasped together as his eyes were burning into Sho’s.   
_This cannot be right,_  
It almost looked as if Matsumoto was provoking him, as if he was _consciously trying_ to arouse Sho. As if he knew what being close to him did to Sho.   
“You know. With just the two of us, this seems like a date.” He then said as his foot scooted up the inside of Sho’s calve.   
His chair fell over. Sakurai had gotten up so fast that he had forgotten to make sure he knocked nothing over. With eyes widened, he stared down at the other member, until he remembered how his lower half must’ve looked, and he turned around. _Shit_.  
“I’ll get the bill.”   
And then he left to clear his thoughts, to pay for the both of them. To get his shit together. Why was Matsumoto being like that? He was toying with him. That he was. Because that was how he was. He was like that with Ohno too. And sometimes Ninomiya. It meant nothing. So it shouldn’t get him worked up like this.  
When he returned, Jun was standing by the window, looking out as the daylight was fading. As it was winter, the sun set quite early, making it seem as if it was evening even though it wasn’t more than 5 in the afternoon. For a moment, Sakurai did nothing but watch him at a distance, how he turned to look at a painting hanging on the wall beside the window. Watch the muscles on his back as he moved. As he put his hands behind his back. His fingers were long and slender, his hands big. Automatically, Sho’s eyes travelled lower to Jun’s backside, and this time he couldn’t prevent the stirring in his groin. Maybe he ought to tease Jun a bit too. Something took hold of Sakurai then, making him move slowly towards the other man. The silence was hanging all around them, only broken by the quiet noise from downstairs, from the cars and people outside the window. His heart was beating, but as his blood coursed through his veins, he could feel his supernatural power stirring as well. Closely connected to his emotions, his powers were incontrollable. As the curtains blew ever so slightly, and small droplets of water rose from within the glasses, his restraints vanished until he stood just behind Jun, trapping him with one arm resting on the wall beside the other man’s head.  
“A date huh?” he whispered close to Jun’s ear, raspy, his breath as warm as the rest of his body.  
He could see how the man heard him, how his shoulders stiffened just a little bit as he felt Sho’s close proximity, and the words lingered in the air. The rapper chuckled.   
“Somehow, I like the thought of that.”   
Then he leaned forward just a bit, his eyes zooming in on the shape of Jun’s right ear, how his pale skin was a sharp contrast to his jet black hair, looking both messy and soft. Then, ever so soft and gently he let the tip of his tongue grace the hollow line from the base of Matsumoto’s ear up the helix. Teasingly, though he hadn’t imagined he’d get such a strong reaction as he did.   
He heard a sigh from Jun. Little more than a quick exhaling of breath. But there had definitely been a sound. Encouraged by that, he grinned to himself, and this time he bit him, just above the earlobe.  
Matsumoto became completely rigid. Sho could even hear it, as the other man held his breath. Had he scared him off now? Had he pushed it too far? Maybe he really did cross the line this time. He fell back on the balls of his feet, the tension in him vanishing, as he lost courage.  
“Ah, you know what. Sor…”  
“Don’t say sorry.” Jun growled roughly.  
And he turned around, an animalistic aggression in his eyes, as he grabbed hold of Sho’s shoulders and slammed him into the nearest wall.


	18. The day when Ohno was responsible for washing clothes and Sho’s favorite t-shirt came out too small. And Aiba ripped his pants

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today just isn't Sho's day. Jun enjoys the side effects.

“Ninomiyaaaa!”  
His scream bellowed through the whole corridor, impossible not to be heard in the surrounding neighborhood.  
_What has he done now?_ Jun wondered, as he curiously looked up from his book. Sho came storming into the room,  wearing nothing but a towel around his waist, his pale skin damp. And his hair bleached a light chestnut colour.   
Beside him Nino broke out in a hysterical laugh. “Look at yourself Sho-chan! No no no, don’t give me that stare. It’s not as if you haven’t had that hair colour before. Shinpai shinai dayo~..”   
Sakurai looked utterly furious, his broad shoulders moving up and down to match his heavy breathing. “You put bleach in the showerhead?!”  
Jun had to cover his mouth.  
“You ass!”  
And Nino was sent flying.  
Still laughing all the while.  
The weird thing though, Jun observed, was how appealing he found that new hair colour. _I wonder how long he’ll keep it._ **  
  
** That wasn’t the only thing which went wrong that day. **  
** Ohno had decided he’d want to test his strength against the washing machine, something he mostly let the others do. Not Nino though, as he presumably had just as much experience with the machinery as Ohno did. Even so, today he had decided he’d wanna do it. He’d discussed it with Jun, explaining how Aiba had cleaned the whole apartment yesterday, and all the members had been a freaking pain in Masaki’s butt. It was the least he could do, the leader had concluded. The thing was though, Jun thought, if he didn’t focus, it might not turn out to be a help at all.  
So, both Matsumoto and Ninomiya had tactically refrained from giving Ohno any laundry for his battle. Jun suspected the gamer to be just as trusting in their Riida as he was. He seemed to ignore Ohno at least, when he asked if Nino had anything he wanted washed today.  
As oblivious (and completely stupid) as both Aiba and Sakurai were, they didn’t give it much thought before handing over some pants and a pair of T-shirts to the eager man.  
  
Five hours later, Jun was preparing dinner and Nino was once again absorbed in his Mario game on the DS. The living room was mostly quiet, except from the quiet sizzling from the pans. He was whistling a silent tune as he really couldn’t restrain himself. Somehow, the cooking was turning out to be really good. It was his first time cooking lamb, but he’d wanted to try preparing the meat for quite a while. Besides, he had a suspicion that the other members were beginning to get a bit tired of traditional Japanese cooking. Also, ever since he’d broken up with his girlfriend a couple of days ago, he’d needed to get his mind occupied. The weird thing was that he wasn’t sad about it at all. Apparently, he had realized that maybe he hadn’t really been in love. It was all so weird. Considering Jun’s abilities, it was so hard getting a lover, because he was never sure the person really was in love with him. It was so hard to control. If he thought he was in love, or was actually in love, the emotion often happened to slip out so much that it affected the person towards whom the feelings were directed. That’s why Jun never knew how genuine another person’s emotion was. Additionally, if a person was having strong feelings towards Jun, it being love or hate, Jun would feel the same to some extent. And these days he was suspecting that’s what had happened with Ai.  Which was why it had been a relief when they broke up. But telling her hadn’t been easy, though she had been quite troubled with his roommates’ reactions to their relationship. In the end she’d seen the reason.  
He turned the steaks over to have them fried on the other side as well and briefly checked the vegetables.   
It was a wonder really, that the four others from Arashi were able to stand Jun. It must be hard for them. Except for Sho maybe. He was the only one whom Jun could neither control nor affect. And that was such a relief. It was nice to have a person you knew was genuine. And as the rapper was always so honest and would mostly never pretend, Jun could relax around him. On the other hand, Jun was also unaffected by Sho’s telepathy, so the youngest member never knew what he was thinking.   
He smiled.  
Yeah. Sho Sakurai was really quite interesting.  
“Arrrrgh!”  
He gasped in surprise at the sudden loud groan. Luckily he wasn’t a person who made big arm movements when surprised, or else it might’ve gone totally wrong in the kitchen.  
Ninomiya started laughing loudly from the sofa. Something was up.  
“Everything is just going wrong today!”  
It was Sho. And he seemed to be even more unsatisfied than earlier today. Jun peeked out through the kitchen to catch sight of him in the doorway.  
“Maji!?” Sakurai sighed, hands on his hips, looking as if he had totally given up.  
He was wearing a red T-shirt, one of his favorites, judging by how often he wore it, tight in all the right places on his toned torso, and with a V-neck. - Matsumoto admitted that it was also one of his favorites. - But today Sho was somehow too big for it. Or was it the other way around?  
After all, in the end, Ohno hadn’t managed to get friends with the washing machine. _Yappari.._   
The shirt had crimped. And Sho’s lower belly was showing. His belly button too.   
And Jun was staring.  
A bit too much actually, but he didn’t notice until Sakurai looked in his direction and their eyes met. His heart picked up speed in no time, and he realized he was blushing, just after he had turned his head back towards the food. _Focus Matsumoto Jun._ Better not burn the dinner.  
Especially now when both Nino and Ohno had done so much for him.  
  
Sakurai Sho didn’t bother changing out of his shirt. He probably thought he’d empathize _exactly_ how mad he was at Ohno by provoking him at the dinner table.   
So there he was sitting, right across from Jun, with his red, hot shirt, now even tighter than before, with chestnut hair and pouty lips, gulping down the lamb Jun had cooked for him, all defiant and sulky. And it was the sexiest thing Matsumoto Jun had seen in a long time.  
  
He left the dishwashing for Aiba and Ohno. They hadn’t done much all day, and as Ninomiya wasn’t to be found at the moment, it had come down to those two. Though as the former had moved to get away from the dinner table, his pants had ripped at the back. And Nino had fallen off his chair, clutching his stomach in fits of laughter, while Aiba had looked like he wanted to cry.   
Sho had stalked off too, proclaiming he’d go see if he could sort out his shirt.  
Matsumoto had better ideas.  
Actually, he really wanted to yell after him down the corridor, stalking him here like some creeper, but something held him back. Arashi’s youngest member was a passionate man. And relentless too. With so many things happening these past days – Arashi’s weird actions, him breaking up with his girlfriend, and that Sakurai walking out of the shower, his hair chestnut brown – something undeniable was burning in him.   
It wasn’t until he actually followed the hot-headed man into the dimly lit laundry room that he knew what it was.  
Sakurai turned around at the sound of his footsteps.  
“Eh, Matsumoto-kun? You surprised me.”  
He just stared silently at the older member. And let his eyes wander down to his flat stomach. He knew how the muscles rippled underneath the t-shirt, the memory fresh in his mind from earlier today, when Sho had sinfully worn nothing but a bath towel around his waist, damp from the bath.  
How Jun missed that belly bottom piercing.   
He took a step towards the rapper, a heavy mood already in the air. Was it his fault? Was it his emotions that were leaking out so thickly? Sakurai must’ve felt it too, because he started backing off.   
“You know, Sho-kun…” he began, his voice like slick silk. “I don’t think Ohno-kun did so badly after all.”  
“Eh?” Sho’s heel hit the wall.  
“You should keep the shirt just like that.”  
And Jun continued walking towards him, until he had him pressed against the wall, Sakurai’s big brown eyes looking up at the taller man, but not frightened. As Jun couldn’t read his emotions, he went by the man’s heavy breathing, and the heat radiating from his body, so close to Jun’s own. Which riled him up even more.  
He supported himself with an arm against the wall, just above Sho’s right ear, and leaned in,   
“I really find it very very hot, Sho-chan.” The whisper was molten on his tongue. Slow and flirting, mirroring Jun’s emotions.   
When he looked back at Sakurai’s face, the eyes had changed. As if reflecting his own, they were filled with lust. And that was more than enough for the younger man.  
Slowly, as he didn’t want to ruin the mood, but drag it on as long as he could, he slid his hand down the wall, and put it on Sho’s chest. The reaction was instantaneous. A sigh escaped Sho’s lips, and Jun couldn’t help himself when he let his hand trace the shirt all the way to the hem, with the purpose of touching the deliciously exposed skin that Ohno so kindly had left for him. As he had imagined, Sho’s body felt great underneath his hand. All muscle, moving at his touch as the man tightened and loosened them. This time both men sighed, when Matsumoto’s hand came in contact with skin. Way too soft for Sho’s own good. And then Jun’s control snapped, and he smashed his lips to Sakurai’s. Admittedly, they had both wanted it for way too long, keeping these emotions at bay, denying them all in secret. But as they were finally let out, both Sho and Jun couldn’t seem to get enough. To be in control, Matsumoto’s other hard grabbed at that gorgeous hair of Sho’s as he shoved his tongue into the other man’s mouth. Once again a sigh escaped the both of them as Jun finally feeling those soft, plush lips on his own, the taste of Sho’s mouth, and he was instantly drunk on it, seemingly not being able to control himself now that he finally had it. Heat was a thick cloud around them, mixed with the clean smell of washing powder, and it only got better when the older man had had enough of Jun being the dominant one. He put his hands on Jun’s waist and roughly pulled him even closer, their bodies flush against each other, - enabling them both to feel every inch of the other’s middle sections along with the confirmation of a shared arousal.   
Still it didn’t seem to be enough. Only for a short while, they both broke for air, and when they did, Matsumoto was the one being slammed back against the opposite wall, Sho’s strong arms resting on either side of his head. It really was intense when one part was all raw emotions, and the other all brute force, finally letting his aggression loose.  
  
From just outside the room, Ninomiya Kazunari was grinning quietly to himself.  



	19. When flower pots fall from the sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ninomiya is starting to execute his pranks upon Ohno.

The sun was shining, the weather was warm, but not hot despite the heavy humid air. Overall, it was perfect weather to tend to the garden, Ohno Satoshi figured. Every day he looked forward to see how much his plants had grown during the night. Of course the others kept telling him that there was no way one could notice such a small growth. But of course Ohno could, he could see it. He was sure.   
In high spirits he walked out the door, a smile on his face.  
And got hit in the head by something heavy.  
He stopped dead in his tracks as he realized how much his skull hurt. And dirt was creeping down the back of his shirt. Fragments of a clay pot breaking to pieces on the ground.  
He blinked dumbly a few times.  
And then he heard a roar of high pitched laughter. He didn’t have to look to know who’d done this. Mostly because that creepy laugh was recognizably anywhere. Either way, he still turned his head to look at the short man standing a few meters away, bent forward, clutching his stomach. He had been hiding behind the corner, it seemed, just waiting for his target to walk out the door. Had the mischievous man wanted for him to be his target? Ohno wondered. _Again?_  
He looked up through his bangs, without moving his head, still wondering why the hell dirt was falling into his eyes, and the top of his head was heavy. Slowly, he turned to get a glimpse in the glass windows. Most of the pot was broken, having fallen to the ground, but he had brown, damp dirt in his hair and on his shoulders. And a flower was standing proudly right on top of his head.   
Pouting, his lower lip jutting out slightly, he looked at Nino for some sort of explanation. What had he done to earn this? To be the one whom Ninomiya Kazunari played his pranks on?  
He kept staring at him with a blank expression until the other member finally looked up. Only to break down in laughter again.   
Satoshi then gave up and continued towards his garden. As if he didn’t care. Which was not exactly true. Nino’s pranks had gotten worse and more frequent and he really couldn’t help but wonder why. What had he done? Surely, something was bothering Kazunari. And it wasn’t only his broken Nintendo.


	20. Sho's undercover bartender job

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arashi is gathering intel on a dangerous criminal, so Sho goes undercover as bartender to do some digging. In people's minds.

_I look rather good._  
He had to admit that the bartender suit looked good on him. The vest clung nicely to his well-shaped chest, the white shirt showing off the hollow at his throat and ghosted across his collarbones. Yes. This would do nicely.  
“I bloody told you guys, he’s perfect,” the imp stepped back to admire his work.  
Ninomiya had been the one to suggest that Sho would be ideal for the role of bartender. And for once, his idea had been justified well enough. If Sho was the one behind the bartender desk, he would have a nice overview of most of the customers at the bar, and he’d be able to read the thoughts of the people coming over for a drink. Easy way to gather intel on the guy Arashi was looking for.  
“Ahh, I’m envious Sho-chan. I wish I was the one to mix drinks all night while getting flirtatious glances,” Aiba whined, and earning a smack across the head from Jun in return,  
“Baka!”  
Sakurai grinned at himself in the mirror, running a hand through his slightly tousled hair. When his eyes caught Jun’s in the mirror, he convinced himself that he saw a spark of approval in those light brown eyes.  
Yeah, this was actually kinda nice.  
  
Aiba was playing the role of security guard at the door. Ninomiya was seated at one of the tables, sipping drinks across from Ohno who looked like he was just staring into space, his hand transporting peanuts from a bowl on the table to his mouth. Matsumoto was manning the dance-floor, keeping an eye out while charming his way around some of the pretty women, using the opportunity to sniff out possible information as well.   
And Sho was sharing made-up stories about his life as a bartender in New York while pouring drinks for all sorts of people.   
As much as he knew he should be focusing solely on pleasing his customers, throwing bright, flirtatious smiles at several women and men while reading their thoughts, he couldn’t help being bothered by the fact that Jun was grinding his way around out there. Jun was a specialist in the area – helped well along by his great looks – but the thought of anyone touching the other man sent a shock of jealousy through Sho. He knew he shouldn’t distract himself, but thoughts of the way the other member’s lips had felt against his own snuck into his mind anyway. He felt his body heat up, and it was only just in the last second that he managed to catch a bottle of vodka with his hands when his mind pushed it off of the table.  
A round of applause went through the line of people in front of him, but his mind was not present.   
This was not going well. He _had_ to focus if this job shouldn’t end in failure. He couldn’t let his want for Jun cloud his mind like this. What would Riida say...  
He pushed all thoughts of Matsumoto out of his mind, and turned an inviting smile towards a woman who waved her hand in his directing. She was wearing a very short, revealing, red dress, her bosom almost falling out of her way-too-small bra. And Sho had to force himself to look into her dark eyes to avoid disgust showing on his face.  
“Hey handsome, care to mix a drink for me?” she purred, tilting her head and batting her eyelashes.  
Sho wasn’t amazed,  
“Sure baby, what would you like?”  
“Mmm..” she licked her lips, and Sakurai felt like puking, “You, mostly, but I’ll go with Sex on the Beach,” a wink.  
_Christ._  
 “Coming right up~” he just sang back, pulling up his sleeves and starting to mix the drink while listening to the thoughts of the woman and the big man behind her. If Sho had to guess, this woman was someone important – or someone with a lot of money – and she had her bodyguard with her; a man with little to no thoughts whatsoever: The typical stereotype of a muscleman without a brain. Nothing interesting to hear really.   
The bartender once again wished he wouldn’t have to listen to all the perverted thoughts of the people in this club. _– Mmm... Nice ass -_  was unsurprisingly what the woman was thinking right now as he felt her eyes on him. So far, Sho hadn’t picked up very many leads on the criminal they were hunting. They knew he was a man, and that he had some kind of supernatural powers. He’d caused major destruction in the capital as he’d robbed the main bank and killed off anyone who stood in his way. If Arashi couldn’t stop him, no one could.  
As he shook the metal bottle in the air, making a show out of putting his muscled arms on display, he let his eyes quickly scan over the mass once more.   
When there were this many people, and he had to focus on all of them at once, his range of mind-reading was shorter than usual. If he focused on one person only, he could almost hear them kilometres away. But this was harder; even more so when he had to act the part of a willing, charming bartender; when all he wanted to do was to tell that disgusting woman – who was now leaning over the desk, probably to encourage him somehow with her boobs – that he was _not_ interested.   
“One Sex on the Beach for the pretty lady,” he said, and he flashed an overly bright smile when he got a huge tip.   
He couldn’t avoid hearing her thoughts when he was this close, and when he did, he quickly withdrew. He didn’t need an utterance of the words: ‘Maybe we can meet up later, just you and I?’ too. She might be used to men wagging their tails when she showed off her nice proportions, and waving a huge bill in front of their noses at the same time, but Sho wasn’t a whore – he couldn’t be bought.   
Once more, before he could stop himself, he threw a glance towards the dance floor, but he failed to find Jun out there. He cringed at the thought of where the younger man could be. He was about to tell himself that this job was impossible. That he could do this no more, that nothing came out of it anyway, when an unknown voice entered his head: _\- Surrounded by these people... If it wasn’t for the investigation, I’d rather be somewhere more exciting -_   
The voice was male, and Sho was surprised he’d been able to pick up his thinking, when Sho’s mind had been occupied with thoughts of Matsumoto. Even so, he immediately tuned back to professionalism, and casually bent down to fetch an expensive bottle of whiskey from the high-class-shelve. As he straightened back up and leaned over the counter to place a glass in front of the young man, pouring for him, but looking out to the dancefloor, all cool and calm, he listened to the surprised thoughts running through his head.   
Then he finally turned his gaze and smirked at him,  
“You look like you could use one of these,” he said then, slowly putting the bottle down on the table and concentrating on expressing to this guy that he had Sho’s full attention.  
Sho studied the looks of the customer, and had to admit that he was very good-looking. His hair was a light shade of brown, and the line of his full lips was set very nicely. With his strong jaw and the way he held himself, Sho couldn’t help but think that he and Jun bore some sort of resemblance.  
The man studied Sho’s face for a couple of seconds, before he lifted the glass to his mouth, his eyes never leaving Sho’s. He briefly breathed in the smell of the whiskey and then a grin split his face,  
“You’re sure it’s okay to give me something as fine as this?” he asked, but didn’t wait for the bartender’s answer before he gulped the liquid down in a provocative manner.  
Sakurai couldn’t help but like the guy’s attitude, as wrong as it felt to flirt so evidently with someone who wasn’t Jun. But that was just it. He reminded Sho so much of his fellow group-member that it didn’t feel totally bad. The pretend-bartender placed a hand on his apron-clad hip and leaned his weight on one foot, the other one resting on the desk between the two men.  
“Nope, but if none of us spills it to my boss, then there shouldn’t be a problem now, should there?” Sho quirked an eyebrow and felt a warm fire in his mind and body as he saw the spark in the man’s eye.  
_\- What a nice surprise, to come across such an interesting person. I’d almost lost faith in this club. -_  
Even the man’s thoughts were arrogant.  
He played with the glass in his hand and moved closer to Sho, leaned across the counter, looking like he was trying to reach the telepath from where he sat. Challenge was dancing in his dark eyes,   
“I’m not very good at keeping secrets, you know,” he purred, “What would you do to keep my mouth shut, Mister...?”  
His eyes were searching for a name tag on Sho’s vest, but found none. Which was obvious – Sho didn’t need everyone around here to know his name. Even if it should be a fake one.  
Then he fake pouted at his customer, playing along on his game,  
“But isn’t that a shame? If you don’t know my name, you can’t tell my boss, now can you?”  
That earned a laugh from the man, and Sakurai smiled back at him, hearing how he praised Sho for his wits in his head, how he mentioned how he certainly didn’t mind this bartender in his bed, between his legs...  
“I’m Kamenashi. There, now you know my name. Isn’t it only proper etiquette to give yours in return Mister Bartender?”  
Someone would probably wonder why Sho bothered this much with the guy - if it was only because he looked like Jun, and Sho was jealous. But Sakurai had a hunch. And normally he trusted his hunch, because he trusted his mind. – And there was certainly something fishy about this guy. He was so different from all the other customers Sho had served tonight; he wasn’t the type to go here, he had style, so there could only be _one_ reason why he did indeed show up at this bar. He had to be staying in this area, and wasn’t that some coincidence since this was the last place the authorities had seen the dangerous criminal not too long ago? Sho wouldn’t be surprised if this man had some very valuable information hidden behind those pretty bangs of his.  
Deciding to push it a bit, he tilted his head and smiled wickedly,  
“Make me,”  
His heart did skip a beat when the customer’s face fell, and Sho thought he’d ruined it, but he hid his anxiety by pouring the man another glass of whiskey – bigger this time, “Tell me about yourself,” he continued then, catching the man’s eyes again, “What does a guy like you do here, in such a _filthy_ place?” _You’re way better than our cheap beer and sour wine._  
Of course, if a man like Kamenashi did have secrets - did have information - he’d definitely lie when asked such a question. But the thing was, Sho thought smugly to himself, minds didn’t lie. And wasn’t it convenient that Sho was able to know everything about a person in less than a minute - just by listening attentively? So when Kamenashi answered:  
“I was visiting a cousin in the area, and as it took longer than I had initially planned to drive home, I was forced to stop here and visit your hotel for the night. And then I craved a beer or two, so I came here. This place is the only club in town, you know,”   
Sho heard: _\- Blablabla, the usual crap about visiting a family member. Last time someone asked I used the colleague-card. Oh well, no matter. I can’t tell this guy – even as gorgeous as he is – that I’m stuck in this lousy pile of dirt awaiting the guy who’s supposed to pay me for information. Such a pain in the ass. Well, until now that is. Maybe not everyone here is as filthy as their town. Though I certainly don’t mind filthy. Maybe this guy... –_ And then Sho blinked and shut the guy out for a moment, because that was just too many details.   
He nodded at Kamenashi, grabbing an extra glass to pour himself a drink. Sharing with a customer meant interest. That’s what Jun had told him at least,  
“We are. Not much of a club though,” he said, raising his glass at the man.  
He kept asking Kamenashi casual questions, all the while mostly listening to his thoughts, and was only disturbed when he had to run for another customer who asked for his attention. He wasn’t alone in the bar though, so it didn’t take him long to return to Kamenashi, who waited patiently for him each time he went away. It seemed almost too easy. Only it wasn’t. Sho knew that even if Kamenashi had proven to be a lead, he still had to concentrate on other people, and as the hours ticked away, he grew more and more weary. After a while with Kamenashi, his head was starting to pound lightly. And certainly the whiskey wasn’t helping. That only made it more difficult for Sakurai to keep his head clear. But he simply refused to give in until he’d made sure there was nothing more to get out of this Kamenashi guy – he was stubborn like that. And if that meant he had to go with him to a hotel room to get the last bit of intel (and knock him out there), he’d do that too.  
Because Jun was apparently not the only one with the right charm and looks to do this sort of thing, as was proved when Kamenashi, after his sixth drink, reached a hand across the counter to grab a hold of Sho’s underarm. He slowly pulled Sho towards his face, so he could whisper in his ear, his breath hot on the telepath’s cheek:  
“An outsider like me could show you a real good time, you know, after you finish your work. Or maybe even before. If you have, say, a back room,”  
And this close, Sho couldn’t block out the man’s thoughts. _– Oh, he smells too good. What I would do to him if given the chance. Come on babe, give me the chance. You know you can’t resist me. We’ll see who ends up on top. I haven’t had something for a while. And certainly not something as good as you. Say yes... -  
_ Sho gasped, and it earned a sharp intake of breath from Kamenashi, whom Sho could now feel the lust vibrating from. But Sho hadn’t gasped because of him, because of his words. He’d gasped when an image had flashed through his mind. And image coming from the mind of Kamenashi: Fire and smoke and noise, death and destruction.   
This man had seen the criminal. This man was working as some kind of spy for him, selling intel, and for a group of men behind the suspect, supporting him, most likely because they didn’t want to end up as his enemies.   
The impact of the vision was blinding. Sho’s head was now thumping so badly he could hear it, a pounding that settled around his temples, causing black dots to obscure his vision. He needed a break. He needed to get away from all these people. Just for a short while...  
“Hmm...” he leaned away from Kamenashi to act like he was considering the man’s suggestion, “Give me a second to check something – honestly I think your hotel would prove a better place than our nasty backroom,” he wondered if he’d been convincing enough when he winked at Kamenashi before turning to hurry through the back-room doors.  
He’d done his best to keep his voice even, to force sparks into his eyes, but it was all he could do not to crack right then and there. The whispers in his mind were forcing themselves into his brain like screams, and he raised his hands to cover his ears, all in vain because the noise was in his head. It had been a while since he’d felt such a terrible pain in his head, somehow urged on by the images he’d seen of the murderer Arashi was hunting.   
  
When Sho finally reached the back room of the bar, he sighed deeply. The voices were now only a whisper in his mind, which he was desperately trying to close off. The headache was already dulling, but even so, he needed a break. Just a small one.   
All this with that Kamenashi guy with way too much information, and Sho having to act interested to get more time with him to roam around in that pretty head of his, made it so much more stressful. He had to hold back powers which were affected by his emotions, while still letting out energy to read minds – it was very tiring work. Sho buried his face in his hands and shook his head. He couldn’t wait for it to be over.  
A few more minutes passed, and he was considering going back. _Kamenashi must’ve left now though._ Still, considering how much time the guy had spent to try and get Sho in his bed, the telepath doubted he’d let it go this easily.  
Suddenly the door beside him got opened violently, causing his head to shoot up, his eyes wide. Had he found a way in? Had he been that impatient? Had he figured Sho out?   
But it was just Jun.  
He blinked,  
“Jun, what is it? What are you doing here?”  
Even as he asked the question, he was secretly relieved that the man had left the dance floor, even for just a minute – even if it was just to get new info from Sho or something.  
He watched as the handsome group member just stood there staring for a couple of seconds, nostrils flaring, hands balled into fists at his sides. He was reminded that as hot as Kamenashi was, it was Jun he was in love with. No one could compare to Jun, not in any way. Sho thought that Matsumoto outshone them all in everything he did – no one could make his heart beat and his body heat up like Jun could. But he seemed angry now, furious even, for some reason.   
He didn’t answer Sho, and the telepath barely had time to get really concerned and ask what was wrong, when Jun was suddenly at him, pushing him forcefully into the back wall of the room. As the air went out of Sho’s lungs, confusion was probably all over his face, and he tried searching Jun’s eyes for some sort of explanation. What had he done? Why was Matsumoto so damn riled up? Barging into the bartenders’ backroom like this? Had Sho done something wrong? Had his action of leaving Kamenashi back there caused some sort of disturbance?   
Jun could blow up the whole operation if anyone found out that they were working together! No one in this little town was supposed to know that they were Arashi.  
“That guy,” Jun said, sounding out of breath, “What did he say to you?”  
Sho raised an eyebrow.   
_Huh?_  
“What guy? Who...?”  
“The guy you FLIRTED SO **OBVIOUSLY** with!” Jun cut him off, yelling in his face, venom dripping from his tone of voice.  
What did it matter what he said? And if it did matter, why would it make Matsumoto so pissed-off?  
“Um..” Sakurai started, and Jun’s hands tightened around his collar, a gesture of impatience. Sho was actually a little scared of the other man right now, “Well, he didn’t outright _tell_ me, but I heard about a possible location of the criminal we’re following, and his mind told me how many men he’d probably killed,”  
Sho was telling Jun what he thought he wanted to hear, but the other man didn’t look impressed. As a matter of fact, he looked like he was about to explode. Sho roamed his head for things Kamenashi had told him,  
“He – he said he was very fond of the whiskey in this bar... He said the women here weren’t worth much,” Sho was too confused to think, blabbering about pointless stuff, before he continued: “He said it was so much better watching a good-looking bartender pour the whiskey for him. Said he’d stay in this town for a while, come here every evening, if it just meant I’d be here. Which is ridiculous of course, because we both know...”   
Those last words were cut off when Jun growled a ‘shut up’, pushing closer to Sho, getting into his very personal space. Sho gulped. Maybe he had hit the nail on the head? Maybe Sho wasn’t the only one who could get jealous. Maybe Jun hadn’t only been teasing Sho for fun these past couple of days? The thought made him a ridiculous giddy.   
“What was he thinking then?” Jun asked, his teeth clenched hard together, his voice low, “What did he think Sho? Huh? What filthy thoughts did he have about you?!”  
Opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water, Sho realized he was right. That was definitely jealousy he could hear in Jun’s voice. And it went directly to his cock. He gulped, deciding to push Jun further towards the edge, now that he had him figured out. - Just to see what he’d do now that he was beyond rational thinking,  
“He thought...” Sho stared back into Jun’s burning eyes, regaining his composure, “That I had a very nice ass. He thought I looked very strong too. And he wondered which one of us would top,”  
Watching as Jun’s Adam’s apple moved when he swallowed, watching a bead of sweat run down the younger man’s temple, he continued:  
“He couldn’t wait to fight me and win, to push me against the wall, take me from behind-“  
“Sho.” Jun warned, a threatening growl, and one of the hands at his collar moved up to possessively wrap itself around Sho’s neck. The man was shaking.  
“And then he was so bold as to lean across the counter to say: ‘I want you’,”  
With a quiet roar, Matsumoto took a painful hold of his shoulder with one hand, clawing into it, and grabbed the flesh at Sho’s jaw with the other, forcing his mouth open and then kissing the other man hard. It was all teeth and tongue, and Sho moaned shamelessly.    
Gods, he wanted this. Sho was fighting a constant battle these days to keep a normal distance to his fellow member. Not a day went by where Sho didn’t want Jun. It was ridiculous and miraculous how he could keep a leash on himself. Until now, it had been his anxiety of how Jun felt towards him which had kept him from making a serious move. But now that Jun was the one who’d taken the step...  
As Jun sucked on Sho’s tongue, Sho moved his hands down to place them on Jun’s hips, retaliating by rolling his hips against the erection he could feel through the fabric of the younger man’s jeans. The whine that escaped Jun was enough for Sho to want to take him right here and now. There wasn’t much left of his logical sense when Jun was this close, abandoning his job to show Sho how he felt about the telepath flirting with someone else.  
Then Matsumoto finally let Sho’s sore lips go, and he just had enough time to open his eyes, before the younger member started biting his neck.   
Sakurai groaned.  
“You’re mine.” Jun’s voice was low and rough like his teeth marking their way across Sho’s sensitive skin, “You’re mine. Only mine. Don’t you dare let _anyone_ else touch you,”  
Again, Sho moaned at Jun’s words, _Oh gods.._.,before the sound turned into a whimper at the pain Jun was inflicting on his neck,  
“Jun...” he whined, his hands grabbing for a hold in Jun’s hair.  
His eyelids fluttered, and the ground underneath his feet started to rumble. There were a few clatters around them as empty plastic bottles fell down from the shelves, and while Jun continued his merciless attack, glass started breaking around them too, cardboards tilting over.  
But none of them stopped to do something about it.  
He was so hard by now that he didn’t know what he to do with himself. It was downright painful. With Jun behaving like this, there was no telling what Sho’s desires could do to this building, to the people in it. If the heat continued to rise, his powers would destroy the place.   
But instead of worrying about that, Jun’s hands snuck around to grab hold of Sho’s ass, to push his middle section towards his own crotch at the same time he rolled his hips deliciously, and they both moaned loudly – Sho was sure he could come just like this. If Matsumoto continued, he’d end up coming in his tight-black-bartender pants, and Ninomiya would most likely force him to continue working without cleaning himself up,  
“Ah, Sho,”   
It was Jun’s turn to groan when the hand Sho had snuck underneath his shirt reached and pinched his nipple.  
_Just a bit more..._  
Jun’s erection was as hard as Sho’s, and Sho could no longer hear anything aside from Jun’s voice, Jun’s whimpers and moans, his whispers of possessiveness, and he was oh so close...  
_\- Sho. -_  
Sakurai’s eyes shot open, and his body became rigid.   
“Jun. Jun, stop,” he said, suddenly all sober, grabbing the younger man’s hands to hold him still.  
“What?” Matsumoto was annoyed, and Sho didn’t blame him as their frantic breaths mixed and filled the quiet room, “Why did you stop?!”   
“Shh,” Sho put a hand over the man’s mouth.  
A couple of seconds passed, Sho’s pulse finally slowing down. He heard footsteps outside, and Jun licked the inside of his palm. He removed his hand with a: “Ew Jun!” just as the door to the room opened.  
Satoshi was standing there, staring at them with a bored expression.   
_Awkward._  
You had to be an idiot not to notice the smell of arousal and want in the room, but Ohno didn’t comment on it. He looked at the two of them with a blank expression, before he turned his attention to Sho,  
“Nino spotted a possible informant Sho-kun. Go out there and read his thoughts,”  
It was no request. Jun growled quietly beside Sho, but it was a short, hard order from their leader, so the telepath didn’t dare do anything aside from nod and walk away from the younger member – as reluctant as he was.  
He was still rock hard though. _Fuck this._  
Ohno remained still as he passed by him, and just as he closed the door behind himself to continue the horrible job out in the club, he heard Riida’s rare scolding voice:  
“Matsumoto! What are you doing!?”


	21. How to divide three hotel rooms between five members

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Jun ended up in the same hotel room as Sho was far beyond his imagination. But now they're here, and how is he supposed to act now?

“I call for the double bed!”  
“Don’t be an idiot, MatsuJun. We’ll do janken for it.” Ninomiya said, stating what all the other members had on their minds.  
It was always janken. And always janken for that one extra room for one member while the other four shared two rooms. Matsumoto didn’t object. There was nothing he could do about it either, with the other four members against him. Ohno suspected his outburst had been more for the heck of it, than the younger man’s actual wishes.   
“Saishou wa gu, janken pon!”  
In the end, Aiba won. For the first time ever.  
“Eh? Eh? I won? I won! Yaaay!”  
Ohno smiled slightly, being happy for the strong member, now jumping up and down making Sho laugh at him. He usually said he’d be happy with anything, that he didn’t mind even if he had to share a double bed with one of the others, but in truth anyone, even Aiba, would enjoy such a big bed for themselves, as well as their own room at the hotel. Because as much as they cared about each other, they lived together every day in their apartment. That could be tiring at times. The only alone time any of them had was in their own rooms in the apartment. That’s why they all enjoyed trips like this.  
The police office in another city had asked for their help on a rather big case, so all of Arashi had to go by plane to the location to be able to take care of the matters. It seemed to Ohno that it could turn out to be quite a difficult task, but apparently the others members had no concerns. Sometimes he wondered if he worried too much.   
“Jaaa… I’ll sleep with Ohno-chan.” Nino stated.  
Ninomiya grabbed him by the arm, clinging to him, and claiming some sort of ownership in his own weird way. And to be honest, Ohno didn’t mind. He threw a glance at the gamer, receiving a devilish grin, but aside from that he didn’t do much. Because he really didn’t mind.  
 “Then Sho-chan and J will share the other room,” Nino continued as he turned to look to the two last members.  
They looked rather nervous, Satoshi noticed, both of them not really looking at one another, but still glancing in the other’s direction. Sho seemed unable to decide which leg he should lean his weight on. And Jun kept rubbing his arm awkwardly.  
“Well, I guess it’s no problem… ne?” Sakurai began, once again glancing at Jun but removing his eyes when the other looked at him, “Two single beds, ne?”  
Matsumoto nodded, agreeing. They were still weird though. But Satoshi didn’t get to ask why they were acting so strange, because Nino started to drag him towards the room then, mumbling something about being tired and hungry. As he followed obediently, letting Nino do whatever he wanted, he smiled silently for himself.  
  
It was rather dark in the room, except for the bed lamp shining above Ninomiya’s bed. Ohno was playing Puzzle and Dragons on his cell phone, a habit he had gotten more and more into after Kazunari had introduced him. He didn’t really pay any attention to what Nino was doing, as he was probably just playing with his Nintendo DS. Thank god for that one still working. The gamer was already enough of a brat with his main machine being broken. Even if Sakurai had already told Nino that he could just save up for a new one, Nino had been reluctant. For some reason Ohno really didn’t get. And it’s not like he paid it any mind. Kazunari already had so many games that Ohno really didn’t understand why that Nintendo had been so damn important.  
He yawned. It was getting late, and he was losing his game. They had ordered room service for dinner, and had eaten in silence – which had only been broken when the other member wanted to bully Ohno for something. How he took too huge bites, or how he had sauce all over his face.   
That man was such a bully these days. All the time. If he had some problem with Ohno, why didn’t he just tell him so? Instead of beating around the bush. It took a great deal to get the leader worked up, and he cared a lot about Kazunari Ninomiya, but he was starting to get on his nerves. After getting drenched, because Nino thought it’d be fun to splash water all over him when suggesting to water his plants, for which Satoshi had been happy, thinking Nino really wanted to help him for once, things stopped being fun for him. Anymore and he’d…  
“Riida?”  
“Hm?”  
The very subject of his thoughts spoke up from his bed. Ohno heard him rustling around, but he didn’t want to look at him. Even if he had finished his dungeon, he kept staring at the screen of his phone, showing a picture of one of his potato plants.  
“Your bed. It looks better than mine.”  
Ohno dropped the phone beside him. Possibly a bit rougher than he’d first intended.  
“What’s with you!?” he replied in his pissed out voice.  
That just did it. Now that annoying devil wanted to trade beds too?!  
Finally looking at the gamer, Satoshi found himself being at loss for words. He had planned to scold the younger member, asking him to just get it over with. He was clearly holding something in, provoking his friend like this constantly. Now really was the best time to get it off his shoulders. Was it his hair? Did he think Ohno needed a hair cut? Was it too long? Or did he have a problem with the vegetable garden? Didn’t he like the carrots?   
But none of these questions reached Satoshi’s lips.   
Because Nino was just lying there. On his belly with his head resting in his hands, all smirk and playful eyes. There was a small light in those brown irises, something unsaid, but not what Ohno had been imagining mere seconds ago. The man opposite him was wearing his underpants and a grey t-shirt, his sleep wear, but somehow Nino made it look incredibly appealing.  He tilted his head slightly to one side, still holding his Riida’s eyes.  
“Can’t I come join Oh-chan? I bet your bed’s softer.” He continued, his voice silky.  
How could he resist him like that? Nino had a way with which he used his eyes and mouth to look so very mischievous and flirty at the same time. Ohno opened and closed his mouth a few times, really wishing he wasn’t alone with Ninomiya like this. They had been close together so often, it wasn’t usually a problem. In the end, he mumbled something not quite understandable, and moved over a little, placing his phone on the bedside table.  Nino’s smile widened, as he quickly got up and almost jumped down beside Ohno. Still a bit at loss, Satoshi looked down at the smaller man, as he squished in beside him under the blankets looking utterly happy. Once below the duvet, only his head visible, he looked cutely up at him.   
“Not going to sleep?”  
“Ah… Un.” Was all he managed to say.  
He reached over and turned off Nino’s light, something Nino apparently didn’t think he’d do, before awkwardly moving below the covers himself.   
Kazunari was so close that Ohno could feel his body heat, but he had hardly found a pleasant position to sleep in before the gamer moved even closer, now flush against Ohno’s own petite body. He was just about to object, telling him how hard it was to sleep when the other member’s arm was around his chest like that, before he heard the satisfied sigh from Nino. It was so innocent and so full of utter bliss, that Ohno just couldn’t bring himself to show him away.   
Ohno Satoshi smiled to himself, feeling his heart flutter in his chest, before he wrapped both his arms around his favorite fellow member, falling asleep feeling warm all over.    
  
   
Things weren’t passing by as silently in the room just opposite the one from Ninomiya and Ohno.   
Jun was lying in his bed, in the dark, looking at the ceiling. For them to actually be sleeping in the same room was the worst… Not that it was bad like that. They were getting along fine. Well, not bad at least and in fact there was none of the other members Jun would rather sleep with than Sho. In the same room that is. Not the other… He shook his head. No. He wasn’t going there. _Control yourself!_   
When he held his breath, he could hear Sho’s gentle snoring from the bed beside his, and he couldn’t help but smile to himself. They had been so awkward around each other since a couple of days ago at the restaurant, - and in the laundry room - doing what they did in the heat of the moment. But if he was to be perfectly honest with himself; since then Jun had had an even harder time restraining himself. He wanted Sho even more now.  
_No!_  
Once again, he shook his head. That would be wrong. Did he really wanna go there? And what did Sakurai think? The older member had kept his distance from Jun since then, trying as best as he could not to let their eyes meet. What was even weirder was how Sho hadn’t made as many things fly as he used to. Maybe he was just trying to learn to control his temper, his emotions which affected his abilities greatly. Even so, Matsumoto actually felt avoided, and that was horrible. Hadn’t the other member kissed him back? Hadn’t he signaled that he wanted Jun just as much as Jun wanted him? Was it wrong of him to still think about how Sho’s lips had felt against his? How utterly great it had felt when Sho had pushed him against the wall, half by the strength of his arms, half by the strength of his mind. Just the thought of it alone turned Jun on.  
Trying to keep his breath in check, he turned around. It was not going to be now. Sakurai was sleeping, and so should he. He closed his eyes. And saw the picture of Sho eating behind his eyelids. They had gotten some room service, and even as he didn’t intend to, he couldn’t help but look at the other man as they ate. He always seemed to be enjoying his food, as if the dish was the best thing he had ever tasted. And watching as he gulped everything down, looking utterly blissful, his full lips glistening…  
_Yada!_ Again he shook his head. Why couldn’t he sleep? He was so aware of Sho every second in this confined space, he was happy his emotions couldn’t reach the other man. Thank goodness for Sho’s protected mind. It was convenient in any way.  
_Thump!_  
No, that wasn’t his heart. It couldn’t be that loud. Listening to the room, he noticed that Sho’s snoring seemed closer, if not a bit muffled. He frowned. And turned around, just to check that everything was ok. To check that Sho didn’t become louder than that, because that would make it harder for Jun to sleep.   
_Eh?_  
Sakurai wasn’t in his bed. Without thinking, Jun quickly sat up in his bed, looking for the older member. How did he walk out without Matsumoto noticing? He had been listening so intently… The duvet was gone from the bed too. Tilting his head, the youngest member was sure his thinking could be heard, so hard was he trying to figure out what was up. It was strange.   
That’s when he looked down between the two beds. He nearly jumped into the air out of fear of the white shape on the ground, thinking immediately it was some dead person – a ghost or something. For a millisecond he wished he was with Riida. Riida who never got scared of anything. But that was only very brief, until he realized why Sho was so white to look at.  
He was utterly naked.  
Gloriously, he was lying on the floor between the beds on his back. Without his pajamas. He had rejected his blanket, tossing it away. Jun covered his eyes out of reflex before realizing how stupid he was. He had seen his fellow members in the showers without clothes so many times. How was this any different?  
He remembered how Sho had mentioned that he actually hated the bed clothes you get at hotels, because he always managed to take it off in his sleep, waking up naked. But Jun never thought Sho would actually be _that_ naked. And why would he wear the hotel’s yukata tonight if he always managed to take it off? It didn’t make any sense. Of course, if he’d been just as shy as Jun, maybe he’d been reluctant to wear just his boxers and a tank top for bed. But that was stupid. Because Jun had seen him naked before. Trying desperately to figure out what to do, Jun roamed around in his bed, turning this way and that. He had to wake up Sho, didn’t he? He couldn’t keep lying on the floor like that. He risked catching a cold. And… If he woke up and wondered why Jun hadn’t woke him up... Maybe he’d conclude something which wasn’t true. Because that’s how Sho was. He always drew the wrong conclusions when he was flustered.   
Jun covered his eyes again. He just realized something. What if Sho woke up in this very moment, to see him staring down at him like this? He shook his head. No. He had to wake him. The faster the better.  
He leaned down from his bed, determined to slap Sho or something… Except he got distracted again. The other man was looking so peaceful. He was completely exposed as he was lying on the floor, but oh so oblivious to what was happening above him. Jun felt a heat rising inside him, his member stirring. His eyes trailed from Sho’s perfect lips, down his chin to that delicious neck where the vein always popped out when Sho was singing or rapping or roaring… Continuing down Sakurai’s torso which he had been training recently, marking his pectoral muscles, now protruding from his upper chest. Man, what Jun would do to touch those muscles. Run his hands across Sho’s nipples, teasing him down to the stomach muscles, feeling the pale soft skin. This was starting to get dangerous, Jun realized in the back of his mind. He had to do something. Because as he kept staring at the vulnerable man just mere centimeters from him, he realized he could do whatever he wanted to him right now. He reached out a hand.   
And grabbed the pillow beside him. Closing his eyes, he threw it down in Sho’s head with a bit of force.  
_Please wake up!_  
A muffled gasp made Matsumoto slump in relief.   
“Oi! What are you… EH!?” Sho’s grumpy voice came from below before he realized what was up.  
Jun wanted to laugh. The older man had sounded so mad. Why oh why had someone awakened him?   
“Omae. Don’t throw off your clothes when sleeping with me.” MatsuJun said in his best bitchy voice, sitting cross legged in his white T-shirt, arms crossed and his eyes following the lines in the roof.  
Not looking at Sho, he only heard how he ruffled around on the floor, mumbling words which apparently weren’t meant to make sense. Maybe he should grab the duvet to cover himself, Jun suddenly realized. All that staring had brought blood to all parts of his body. Hopefully the other man wouldn’t notice though, being all sleeping, and seeing as the room was dark.   
_I hope he moves back to his bed as fast as possible._  
“If I don’t take off my clothes, how do I sleep with you then, MatsuJun?” a whisper blew him in the ear.  
Sho hadn’t moved back to his bed. He was standing right in front of Jun, still without a piece of fabric on him. In the strip of moonlight which escaped the curtains, he was looking even more glorious, all power and smooth skin, and something else. Something Jun couldn’t quite place. But he recognized it. It had been in the laundry room too. That air around Sho. Dominance. Possessiveness.  
As the older man leaned forward, placing a hand on the mattress next to Jun, hovering above him, Jun’s breath caught in his throat. He stared, wide eyed.   
“You were staring at me, weren’t you?” Sho continued, his voice raspy and low. Jun had no room in his brain to try and figure out if it was from sleep or from the same lust that was starting to rumble inside him. “Enjoyed it?”  
Sakurai’s breath hit Jun’s face, the air tinkling his lips. His fingers gave a small spasm. This was too much. And when Sho’s gaze slowly left Jun’s own and wandered down to Jun’s crotch, it brought him over the edge.   
Matsumoto’s hand shot up and grabbed the back of Sho’s head, pulling him down and smashing their lips together, as Sho wrapped his other arm around Jun’s waist. Everything from then on was just a tangle of lust and fight for control. How great it felt to have his lips on his again, how great it felt to feel Sho’s tongue against his own again. So much did Matsumoto give in to the other man, that Sho was soon exploring all of Jun’s mouth, receiving one moan after another. As he knit his fingers in Sakurai’s hair, the other man snaked his big hand around to put it on Jun chest and forced him down on the mattress. There was something incredibly hot about Jun lying underneath the completely naked Sho who was still supporting himself with one arm. All he had to do was reach out, and he would be able to touch all there was of the rapper.  But Sho wouldn’t let him. As soon as he had Jun flat on his back, he grabbed his wrists and held them down on either side of him. When they broke for air, Jun only had time to glimpse the need in Sho’s eyes, before he bit his ear and pressed a leg between Jun’s, letting yet another moan escape the lips of the younger man.  
“You are a very lucky man, Matsumoto Jun.” was all Sho had to tell Jun, before he let his tongue taste its way all the way down Jun’s jaw and neck.  
He was teasing him, taking it slow. Jun writhered. He wanted it fast. All this tension which had been built between them for so long was finally being released, but it wasn’t fast enough. He fought back. He wanted Sho. And he wanted him now. No time for all this foreplay! With a grunt, he twisted his head and bit Sho’s neck.  
“Sho. Quit your seduction. Take me now.” He snarled, before he continued in a provocative tone: “You want it just as much don’t you? I never took your for the patient guy.”  
In the dark, he heard Sho snort. “You sure? I was just being considerate of my emotional fellow member. Because that’s what you are, aren’t you?” the low rumble of his voice was now at Jun’s ear again, “Don’t wanna hurt little, fragile Jun.”  
The words were mocking, yes, but nevertheless, they turned Jun on like hell. With a grin, the rapper suddenly placed his hand between them, right on Jun’s dick. He stirred, bit his teeth.  
“You asked for it…”  
Sneaking past his boxers, Sho didn’t wait for permission before he took Jun’s member in hand, as the other man was completely at loss for words. He just focused on breathing. The only words running through his head was this still being too much. Having wanted it for so long, for years, this was all he could do, to not explode right there in Sho’s hands before things turned really good. Truth was, Jun wanted to be the dominant one; he wanted to turn Sho around, to fuck him hard and roughly until his screams filled the room, but with things being like this, he stood no chance against the older man. Besides, as Sakurai began to stroke him up and down, there was no room for any thoughts. His hand was so very warm, his fingers skilled as they moved all the way down to the root and squeezed his balls gently.  
“Ah!”  
He was done with holding back, no chance. If Sho was this skillful with his hand, what was his mouth? The very thought caused another groan, but above him Sho’s breathing was also becoming ragged.  
“Oh..?” Jun managed to say lifting an eyebrow at Sho, “Am I really that great already?”  
With a growl, Sho put the weight of his lower body on Jun’s thigh, forgetting to stroke him for a minute. Matsumoto did not fail to notice how Sho’s huge erection pressed down against him too. Even in this bad light, Jun could see how much he was pushing his luck. How apparently Sho’s anger and cravings also walked hand in hand. How Sho was holding back.   
Now Matsumoto reached up to touch Sho’s torso, splaying his palm out on the right pectoral muscle, still breathing heavily, matching Sho. The skin really was as smooth as he had imagined. Between his thumb and his forefinger, he pinched the older man’s nipple, just as he had imagined he’d do, making Sho moan. With that Matsumoto smiled, and reached up his other hand again to rather roughly show their mouths together. In this moment, he was the one to push Sho’s tongue away and claim the rights. With a fire burning in him, he rubbed the back of Sho’s neck almost with the intention of hurting him. So much lust was in him, that he didn’t care how and who took who, but it had to be now. He pushed his body up towards Sakurai, pressing their crotches together, as he still tried to pull him closer.   
Then the other man chuckled in the kiss.   
Before Jun had time to get annoyed about it, Sho pushed away from him, using both hands to grab Jun’s shoulders. All forceful, he turned him around so that he lay face down on the pillow, before pulling him up, Jun’s back to Sho’s front.  
“Wish granted then, Jun…” he drew out Jun’s name so very deliciously that Matsumoto almost crumbled right there in his arms.   
Sho pulled down his boxers, pushed Jun back down to let him support himself with his arms, before Jun felt his heat on his ass. His own cock was now so hard that it stood proudly against his belly, almost making him want to beg for it. As mists of lust filled his mind, Jun suddenly realized how much it would hurt if he wasn’t prepared. Honestly, he had forgotten all about these things. In this crazy daze he wouldn’t have cared. But his worries weren’t needed, because Sho wasn’t the type of man who’d hurt the ones he cared for, Matsumoto was reminded, as Sho inserted two lube covered fingers in him.   
“You..?” he sighed at the burning sensation, as he let his head sink down, resting his forehead on the blankets.   
Had he thought about it beforehand? Had he planned it out? Had he made Aiba win janken in some way? Had he secretly been reading everyone’s thoughts? Deciding their hand for them in the game? Had Nino been in on it? Why else would he be carrying lube with him?  
As Sho pushed his fingers in and out, once again a surge of pleasure went through him.   
“Sho… Already. Now.” He managed to get out between pants.  
“My, aren’t we impatient?”  
Sakurai completely had the upper hand, and he knew it. It was evident in his voice, how the older man enjoyed being on top. In any way. If Jun hadn’t been so damn needy, so damn close to his limit, he would’ve done something about it. But he didn’t care right now. The only thing he cared about was Sho’s cock.  
“Just… Give it to me already,” his voice almost sounded angry.  
The two fingers were pulled out as fast as they were inserted, but Jun didn’t have to wait long. With a groan, Sho spread Jun’s legs even wider, and then his dick entered him.   
“Ah, Sho!”   
It was indescribable.  
It felt so very good, Sho filling him up completely, Matsumoto’s erection stirring again. Clenching his teeth, he held back groans and his orgasm. He was finally taking him. Sho was finally in him. And it felt so much better than he had imaged those countless of times.  
Sakurai didn’t wait long though. He grabbed Jun’s hips and started thrusting in and out at a harsh phase, slamming their bodies together. The youngest man suspected that Sho had reached his limit of patience too.  
“Jun…” he sighed at one point, touching something within Matsumoto, that thing not only being bodily. “You…”  
Both of their breathing turned to gasps, and Jun felt a pulling inside him. He was oh so close.  
“Damn it,” he said mainly to himself, a hiss, fighting.  
Sho’s hands wandered, as he became even more forceful. Maybe it was a good thing to start like this. Had Sho been completely awake during the day, it might’ve been dangerous, Jun noticed as his pillow started to lift itself from the bed, and the alarm clock fell down from the table. Sho’s mind was out of focus, in tumult as greed was in command.   
It started to get painful, one of Sho’s hands dug into the skin on Jun’s thigh, and just as he thought the other man couldn’t trust harder, Sho used more strengh. Then, as Jun’s moan became a bit of a whimper, Sho’s hand suddenly closed around his member, cupping it, giving it a final stroke and a rub at the tip, and that did it. Jun exploded in his hand, his orgasm ripping through his body making him see stars and shake all over. - Afterwards Sho could tell him how he his voice had reached a deliciously high note as Jun came, a mixture of a whimper and a quiet scream. Behind him he heard Sho’s deep, throaty groan, as he filled him with his seed. As he couldn’t see him, Matsumoto imagined how Sho’s face looked; eyes closed shut, his mouth open, lips wet, and that neck vein popping out temptingly.   
Afterwards, they sank down on the single mattress, Sakurai somehow managing to turn Jun around, so they lay face to face.  
Still panting, Jun locked eyes with Sho as a smile managed to find its way to the older man’s face. He caressed Matsumoto’s face, to which Jun closed his eyes. They were both too tired for words.  



	22. The day when Sho's world caved in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arashi has finally managed to track down the criminal they've been hunting for weeks, but things haven't exactly turned out the way they'd imagined.

It wasn’t fair. They’d finally found each other. They’d finally collided after months of circling around, coming close but never touching. Their lines finally stopped running parallel, they’d taken that last step, turning the world upside down and igniting the sky. As two pieces of a puzzle they’d connected like magnets, and Sho had been sure they could never be torn apart ever again. They completed one another. And for his entire life, Sho had never felt so calm and warm as he did now. The burden of his powers didn’t matter – as long as Jun stayed by his side.  
He’d finally discovered the meaning of it all, his reason for living, only for it all to be ripped violently away from him. And he’d been powerless to prevent it.

They’d been in the middle of fighting the toughest villain they’d ever encountered. His powers similar to Sho’s, he was able to move things with only his mind, lifting cars and smashing buildings. But while Sho had the power to read thoughts, this man could put images into people’s minds, showing them their greatest fears and reducing them to shivering messes, rendering them unable to move as illusions surrounded them. He could make them see things that weren’t really there, and so far, none of them had been able to touch him. As much as Ohno tried attacking him from the sky, flying down towards him as fast as he could, the man’s mind worked faster, and that was all their leader could do to avoid getting hit while vulnerable. Every time Aiba tried throwing things at him, he easily stopped them and threw them right back at the strong man. Moreover, he was ridiculously fast, so the only one able to get close enough was Nino, but of course they were fighting in the middle of the day, so the shadows were few, and Ninomiya’s advantage small. While Sho watched Jun trying to get close enough to the villain to touch him, affect him in some way, and failing as the lithe man turned around with a wicked grin, he wondered if this person knew everything about them. He seemed to know all of their strengths and weaknesses: Knew that Jun could do next to nothing without touching his target, knew that Ohno could only cause earthquakes if he was connected to the ground, knew that Sho feared what his powers could do, always holding back.  
In front of him, Jun fell to his knees, clutching his head, eyes wide in pain and fear and Sakurai stepped forward with a yell. All he heard in the criminal’s mind was static noise when he tried to listen to his thoughts, and as he caused a lightning pole to fall down next to him, the man stopped it easily, now laughing in triumph.   
Then his eyes stared straight into Sho’s.  
**_  
“You can’t stop it Sho. I’ll make you watch as your friends die here. And then I’ll crush you afterwards. Don’t worry. You will thank me for taking the pain of your loss away. I’ll make it all go away...”_**  
  
His voice was filling Sho’s mind, loud and shrieking, the pitch so high that Sho felt as if his head was going to split in two. He tried blocking out the voice, bringing his hands to his ears, but the man just laughed hysterically. The criminal’s mind was stronger than Sho’s...  
****_  
“You lose.”_  
  
And the world was on fire. Everything was red and black around him, as if the night had descended upon the town. Smoke was in his eyes, causing water to spring forth and run violently down his cheeks. His whole body was hurting, and he was struggling to see, to get up. He’d never felt so heavy before, like his body was made of lead. The moves he made didn’t seem to be his own, it felt like someone was controlling him, pulling the strings of his arms to help him to stand up. Through hazy eyes, he watched as the world caved in on itself. He lifted his hands to see how flames had turned them soot-black, blood running down his wrists. He’d done that - the other telepath. He’d destroyed the world. As a sob threatened to escape Sho, he noticed the shapes on the ground. Unrecognizable from the burn wounds and cut-off limbs, the corpses didn’t look human. But despite the fact that every feature of their faces were burned away, Sho recognized them. He had seen them before. He had seen them in his dreams.  
The sob ripped across his throat, and he covered his mouth with his own burned hand. His eyes ran over the ground, over each of the three shapes in front of him. How? How had this happened? He refused to accept this. This couldn’t be real.  
Then his heart stopped. Where was Jun? Where was he? If something had happened to him... In desperation, Sho whipped his head around, taking a few steps to the right, to the left, almost tripping, looking for some trace, some life... _If Jun has died too..._ The thought made his eyes blur, as tears started rolling down his cheeks like waterfalls. _Not Jun. Please not Jun!_  
It didn’t take long before his eyes found their target. And Sho nearly fell in his desperation to get to the motionless body on the asphalt.   
Half-buried underneath piles of rubble, the light of his life lay motionless, eyes closed. His face was covered in scratches, his lip cracked and traces of blood patterned his face, all wrong, because the only thing pattering his face should be his beautiful moles. Sho didn’t need to ask, didn’t need to try and wake him up, he already knew there was nothing he could do. That it was too late. But he couldn’t stop himself from sinking to his knees, running his hands over Jun’s face, trying to brush away the dirt in his hair, to grab his shoulders and shake him violently.  
“Wake up Jun! Jun! Jun, please!”   
Before he knew it, he was screaming, screaming at the sky, at the black heavens above. The note shred its way through his vocal cord, tearing his lungs apart. It was a shrill, bone-chilling sound. His whole body was falling apart, the life oozing out of him, leaving an empty shell. His heart felt like it broke in two, causing immense pain throughout his whole being, and he kept shaking his head. He felt his sanity slipping away fast,  
“No, no, no, no...” he whispered, lifting Jun’s head to his lips, kissing his forehead, his cheeks, his lips, over and over again, but the man didn’t wake up. He was as cold as ice.  
He didn’t stir, didn’t move, didn’t breathe. Darkness was pressing down on Sho from above, he couldn’t get up, it hunched his back, broke his bones. He felt so much pain it was making him numb, it was tearing at the edges of his whole being. Life wasn’t worth living if Jun wasn’t in it! This wasn’t fair. After so long, he’d finally found someone to take care about. Finally found _the person who could save him from himself._ Sho had been terribly lost before he found Arashi. He’d been trying so desperately to hold back his powers, to hide from civilisation. He’d been haunted by horrible dreams as his powers tore at his body, struggling to escape. All until he found Jun. Jun and his soft, cooling hands.  
This couldn’t be right! Forcing his head up to look for Nino, for Aiba, for Ohno, for any trace of life, for anything to help him, - were there no one to help him at all? – he could only to see the coal-black shapes lying on the ground. And he knew. He knew they were all dead. And it was his fault. He hadn’t been able to save them. He hadn’t stopped the criminal from setting the world on fire, killing everything. His own weakness and fear had stood in the way; his reluctance to use his powers had eventually resulted in killing his friends, his family. And it left a wide hole inside him.   
And as he held onto the limp body in his hands, clutching it so strongly that his knuckles turned white and the bones cracked underneath his fingers, a heat spread from inside him. A heat stronger than the flames around him, a heat scorching his insides, turning his flesh to ash and causing his muscles to tear themselves apart. The heat was black and cruel and so powerful that it was going to destroy Sho’s body in the process. But that didn’t matter. He finally let go of his dead lover. He got up on his feet.   
And looked straight at the man in front of him.   
The villain tilted his head, a malicious smile on his face,  
“So, I destroyed everything. What will you do now I wonder?” he asked, and the words made Sho clench his teeth hard together.   
No comprehensible thoughts were left in Sho’s brain. He couldn’t answer. There was only wrath. Terrifying, dangerous wrath and a horrible desire to kill.   
It felt as if his jaw broke, but he didn’t care. None of it mattered now. The edges of his vision turned white, and he was burning. The bastard was going to pay. He would tear the man apart limp from limp, letting the blood flow, bleeding him dry. He would break all the bones in the man’s body; he’d gorge out his eyes and peel off his skin. And then when he was dead, he’d do it all over again.   
As all sanity and consciousness left Sho, when it felt like there was nothing humane left in him, he slowly raised his arm.  
Suddenly, Jun was crouching beside him, “Wake up Sho, wake up!”  
And it was all so weird, because Sho was awake? Jun was the one who was supposed to wake up!  
But he would never wake up. Never again would the younger man look fondly at Sho, never would he show him the smile that could light up the whole world, never again would Sho feel the heat from Jun’s kisses, the warmth of his touch on his body. Jun would never again forcefeed Sho all his healthy concoctions from the kitchen, he’d never play one of his sadistic pranks on Nino, he’d never again make Sho jealous by teasing Riida. Sho would never again see how the light shone from the man’s eyes when he was proud of himself, he’d never again witness how the man got payback for Sho’s sake. He’d never again feel cool and calm and protected. He’d never again feel like he’d finally come home.  
There was a sudden flash of light in the sky, a smear off white over the whole palate as if something had made the surroundings explode. The fire inside Sho was rippling over his skin now, and as the telepath turned his head towards the sky, he saw himself from a distance, as if it was really a dream, how his mouth opened morbidly wide in a scream that shook the ground, caused the buildings to fall apart and lava to erupt from within the earth. The sky opened for lightning, and fire seemed to be everywhere. There were no shadows because everything was drowned in a surreal white light, a light that blasted everything into smithereens, tore everything apart, split every leaf, every ant into atoms where it hit.   
And Sho was in the middle of it, raising his arms higher and higher, his scream turning into a screech, louder and louder. He was lost, terribly lost, and as he unleashed all of his power, the whole world erupted in flames.  
And there was only pain.  
  
_Jun’s POV:_  
It was horrible to witness. Jun was crouched on the ground, blinking the weird hallucinations away, and the image of Sho standing completely still came into focus.   
Matsumoto tried yelling at him, as the villain slowly walked towards his fellow member, that he should stop him, throw a car at him or something, when a bolt of lightning suddenly shot down right in front of the criminal, stopping him dead in his tracks. The lightning had been mere centimetres from hitting him and blasting through his whole body.   
Confused, Jun looked towards the sky, saw how Ohno, who stood beside him, did the same, but the sky was clear, the sun shining down from a blue sky. No explanation followed, and when he glanced back to where the villain stood in front of Sho, his breath hitched in his throat.  
Bloodlust was waving towards him in slow, hot waves, they seemed to burn his skin and he wanted to throw up. It was so uncomfortable that he took a step back, tripping over a rock, covering his mouth with his hand. This couldn’t be happening.  
“Jun. Jun, what is the matter?”   
Ohno put a hand on his shoulder, and Matsumoto winched in shock, earning a concerned look from their leader.  
“I... I... I can taste the desire to kill on my tongue. It’s so heavy...” he mumbled.  
He barely heard Ohno’s answer before he continued, “But... It’s not coming from the telepath. It’s Sho.”  
Ohno’s eyes widened. The man hadn’t seen what Jun had seen in Sho’s dreams, but he’d heard it from Jun’s mouth. So he knew how serious the situation was. How dire it was becoming.  
“We need to get away.” He said.  
Jun refused to admit that he’d heard those words. He shook his head violently, sending Ohno a pleading look, “What? No! No! I can’t leave him. We can’t!”  
Riida didn’t say anymore. His eyes were full of sympathy, but he shook his head.   
_No. Nononono. They couldn’t leave Sho!  
_ Despite the tears he felt stinging his eyes, he knew Ohno was right. Every second, they brought themselves further and further in danger. They had to get away. Jun couldn’t stop Sho this time. It was too late. And Sho was witnessing his worst nightmare – a scenario Jun himself had seen. But this time Sho was awake, and there was no telling what devastation his powers could cause.  
Jun shot his boyfriend one last look, gasping when he saw how Sho’s irises had turned completely white, his skin so hot that vapour rose from it.   
He couldn’t tear his eyes away, even as Ohno gripped his arm and lifted them both from the ground. Jun kept looking, and he kept staring as a silence suddenly filled their surroundings. It was if all sounds had been muted: He couldn’t hear the sound from the flames below him, couldn’t hear Ninomiya’s yells as he ran as fast as he could below them while pulling Aiba along with him, couldn’t hear his own sobbing. There was only a strange buzzing, a pressure in the air. Then Sho screamed. A loud, high-pitched shriek that filled the void around them, so bone-chilling that Jun wanted to cover his ears. It was so full of sorrow that Jun started shaking all over. To witness something that made you scream like that... And he suddenly knew what was coming. He only had a second to brace himself before the black dot that was Sho suddenly seemed to cave in on itself, and an explosion like a supernova flashed. He lost his vision as everything turned white and the world was no more.  
  
The blindness seemed to last for hours, before the sound of a volcano erupting split the deafening silence, and his vision started to return around the edges.  
Ohno was still flying as fast as he could in the opposite direction, but they were safe now. It was over. Jun knew it. But somehow he wasn’t happy. He could only think of Sho. He had been in the middle of the explosion. He had been the cause of it. What if his powers had finally destroyed him? Jun imagined how the man would’ve been ripped apart as the huge force inside him finally broke free.   
He realised he was crying violently. His whole body was shaking as he screamed at Ohno to let him down. He knew it was over.  
  
_Sho’s POV:_  
A huge gap had been left in the spot. There was nothing except from a big hole, kilometres wide. Houses were cut in half, and a gorge 10 meters deep was left in the ground. It was a complete, perfect circle, and standing in the middle of it was Sho.  
His skin was half burned away, heat still rising from his body, and he was shaking, but his eyes had turned back to their usual colour. And he was alive. He was breathing.   
Panting heavily, he blinked in confusion. The world suddenly looked different to him.   
The man he’d been fighting had had no time to even know he was about to be killed before the flash had split his body into billions of atoms. He hadn’t been given the chance to realise his mistake, realise whom he was really up against. And along with him, the fake vision he’d given Sho had vanished as well. So the superhero was given the gift of seeing the destruction he had caused.   
There were no tears left, no emotions, nothing at all. He was bled dry, devoid of thoughts, so Sakurai could only sink to his knees with a thump that seemed to echo its way deep into his soul. Staring straight ahead at the devastation, he finally blacked out.   



	23. Empty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the members of Arashi are alive after facing the most deadly and powerful criminal to date. But they carry scars, and some of them are deeper than others.

It felt as if nothing would be the same again for any of them. They were all alive, something they hadn’t expected when they’d seen the white light and heard the silence. But they were scarred for life, one of them most of all.  
They’d lifted his limb body from the ground, and Jun had been sure he was dead. Jun had fallen to his knees when they found him sunk together in the middle of the crater, completely caved in on himself. Jun had seen how blank his stare had been when he finally woke up in his bed, as if there was nothing of Sho left in the brown eyes at all.   
Looking at him now, running his hand over his warm forehead, caressing his cheeks, the tears were still silently escaping Jun’s eyes. What would happen to them now? What would happen to Sho? Would he be like this for the rest of his life?  
  
Jun couldn’t go back either. Somehow he’d known this would happen. The night before meeting the criminal with telepathic abilities he’d lain in bed with Sho, completely curled around the other man’s body, and he’d asked him what his plan was. If the rapper had some strategy of how to deal with the man.   
Jun shouldn’t have accepted the answer. He’d known something was wrong with Sho already then. Despite his short laugh and the way he had told Jun to calm down, because this would be a piece of cake, he’d been looking afraid. Jun had felt the nerves under the older man’s skin. He’d known. He’d known that Sho had been afraid of what kind of confrontation he would face, having similar powers to the criminal. They’d both suspected that Sho was probably the only one who could stop this man. But they’d also known that it meant he had to face his abilities and stop being afraid.   
And they’d feared that feat would be impossible for him.   
  
Now he could only watch over his boyfriend for weeks, trying his best to force some food in him, and keep him warm, not knowing if he would ever become Sho again.  
  
After a month, Jun was close to giving up. He was losing himself in this horrible process, and he hadn’t seen _any_ improvement in Sho. He was still lying completely motionless in bed, staring at the ceiling, at nothing in particular. Every night, he’d have nightmares and Jun would jump up in shock when Sho screamed, a sound piercing the night. When that happened, Jun would run his hands over Sho’s face, Sho’s body, whispering everything and nothing in a calm voice to the man, and he’d always succeed in calming him down. To begin with, this had given him some hope – that at least he was still able to reach the telepath in his dreams, but as time passed and he didn’t seem to be able to do anything for the man when he was awake, the nights became horrible again. Matsumoto didn’t get enough sleep himself, and his friends started to worry about him.   
  
One morning, Ninomiya visited Jun in Sho’s room.   
With worry in his eyes he told the younger man that now they all thought he should let Sho go. That there seemingly was nothing Jun could do for him. And none of them wanted to see Jun fade away as well.   
He had tears in his eyes when he told Matsumoto that none of them would be able to bear losing him too.  
“Just one more day...” Jun pleaded, holding onto Sho’s hand as he buried his face against the sleeping man’s chest, inhaling his scent, “Just give me one more day...”  
And Nino agreed, thinking it wouldn’t make a difference.  
  
The morning passed by and unsurprisingly, there was no difference. With a sigh, Jun got up from his kneeling position beside Sho’s bed. His joints popped and he stretched, feeling how much his body yelled to be exercised. Jun had always been in great shape, so to suddenly sit still for a month was very alien. Taking a couple of deep breaths, Jun decided to get used to the feeling of giving up. He’d promised Nino that it would only be one more day. Now he’d been mourning for a month. Sho wouldn’t want him to remain by his side like this for the rest of his life. With a sad smile, Jun imagined how Sho would scold him for neglecting his health like this, “You’re supposed to be the health-freak here, Matsumoto!” – he’d say.  
Losing himself wasn’t something Sho would want for Jun. And with that thought and a hole in his heart, he left Sho’s side for the first time in many weeks.  
  
  
Half an hour later, Jun returns after a shower and a light breakfast. The other three were surprised but ecstatic to finally see him in the living room again. Though, as much as Aiba tried convincing him to stay longer, he insisted on staying with Sho. Because today would be the last day. And then he’d let the man go.  
He returns to the dark room, - and drops the glass of water he is holding on the ground. The glass shatters to pieces.   
A dark shape sitting on the bed nearly makes him scream in fright. Who has snuck in here!? What have they done to Sho?   
Jun takes a step back in fear, eyes wide, feeling how the cold water covers the floor by his feet.   
“W-who?” he stammers at the darkness.  
First, no answer comes, there is only silence. Then:  
“... Jun?”  
The voice coming from the shadow makes him bite his lip hard. Tears wells up in his eyes and he trembles. He’s waited for a whole month...  
“Sh... Sho?”  
He doesn’t dare believe it. He’d given up on him. Is he dreaming?   
Shaking his head, he hears how the covers on the bed are rustling slightly.  
“Jun?” Sho croaks again. There is both fear and hope in the man’s small voice, and that is enough for Jun to jump right back to his side.  
He doesn’t turn on the lights, but he doesn’t need them to see Sho’s face in the dark, how he is thinner than ever, how the bags under his eyes are prominent and dark. Even so, he is Sho, and he is looking at Jun, he is reaching for him to stroke his face, to make sure he is seeing right,  
“Jun?” he asks once more, and Jun nods, tears rolling down his cheeks,  
“Yes Sho, I’m here,” he whispers, leaning into his lover’s touch, “I’m here...”  
Jun covers Sho’s hand with his own and closes his eyes for a brief moment.   
A sob fills the darkness, and Matsumoto realizes it came from Sho,  
“I thought I had lost you,” Sho says, his hand wandering from Jun’s cheek down to his neck and collarbones.  
Matsumoto’s laugh is bittersweet, “I could say the same about you,” he swallows when Sho’s fingers find his Adams apple, “You were lifeless for a month...”  
Sakurai’s touch is warm, warmer than he remembers it being and it still makes sparks tingle all over Jun’s skin.   
“I had such a terrible dream, Jun,”   
“I know Sho, I know,”  
It is his turn to reach for Sho’s face. His fingers dance lightly over the man’s facial features, recognizing his prominent forehead, his wicked-looking eyebrows, his stubby nose, the angle of his cheekbones. His jawline is more prominent, his cheeks more sunken, but it is definitely his Sho. Jun lets his fingers linger over the rapper’s full lips, letting them slide slowly over the man’s mouth. He is almost afraid that he is going to vanish right in front of him,  
“I’ve missed you so much...” his voice breaks and he bites his lip to prevent the sob.  
At this, Sho’s face lights up into a small smile, and Jun feels his heart healing by the sight – it’s beating pace increases, the blood in his body flows faster, and he feels like he is the one waking up from a year-long slumber. He is about to ask for permission when his lover’s lips parts just slightly, the man sucking in breath in a motion Jun knows all too well. His whole body reacts, suddenly hot all over, and he forgets all about asking for permission.   
He brings his lips to Sho’s with more force than he’s intended, and a small whimper escapes the other man. But soon he feels a hand in his hair, and Sho opens his mouth willingly for Jun’s tongue to enter, pushing them closer together. It’s wet and messy, desire suddenly swirling around them both.  
The kiss is rough and desperate, and they both fight with little graze as they suck and bite at each other’s lips, forgetting how to breathe.   
Jun pushes upwards from his kneeling position and slowly crawls onto the bed beside Sho, his mouth never leaving Sho’s. A fleeting thought of being gentle with the other man is forgotten when Sho all but pulls Jun down on top of him, to straddle him. The younger man places one knee on either side of Sho, grabbing onto his face with both hands, his tongue taking everything and a little more than the rapper offers. A moan escapes Sho when they part for air before he latches onto Jun’s neck, attacking his Adam’s apple first thing. Matsumoto groans in return, his lover’s biting going straight to his erection.   
“You should... We should...” he forgets what he is trying to say as Sakurai sucks on his neck, leaving one love bite after another.  
The man seemingly doesn’t hear Jun at all and his arms sneak their way around Jun’s torso, creeping under his shirt to touch skin. Jun can practically feel the desperation in the other man’s pulling and pushing, his search for confirmation that what he feels is real, what he touches isn’t an illusion. And it makes him want to weep – there’s immense sorrow and pain inside Sho. So he just leans further in, takes off his shirt and places his hand on Sho’s chest as he hovers over the other man, pushes him flat down on the bed. Jun concentrates on making Sho feel as much as possible; places small kisses all over Sho’s face, his jaw, his ear, nibbles on his earlope, earning a high-pitched moan, and teases the other man’s nipples, one after the other.   
Sho is writhing underneath him, doing his best to keep his voice down. When Jun’s hand slides below his navel, coming closer to Sho’s crotch, the man arches his back, a growl evident on his throat,  
“Jun...”   
And Jun is fighting a losing battle with himself to refrain from just giving in too fast, and doing what both of them want right now.  
With a hand on Sho’s hip, he pushes the man back down, only to forcefully pull off his boxers and place himself between the older member’s legs. A warm hand runs down his spine and causes goose bumps in its wake. Sho’s mouth is at his naked shoulder, biting and sucking on the bone there. Aroused, Jun moves his still clothes lower half against Sho’s and they both moan at the friction. The hand on Jun’s back reaches his backside, and Sakurai squeezes his ass briefly before there’s a second hand by the button of his jeans. Removing Jun’s last pieces of clothing happens in the quick moment where Sho decides to remove his mouth, but the man sucks at Matsumoto’s lips again as soon as the pants are on the floor. They still make out messily and roughly and desperately, as if the two men’s lives depend on it. But there has never been anything sweeter in Jun’s life. And he doesn’t care about the fact that the man has been ‘dead’ for a month, when his hand searches blindly in Sho’s bedside drawer for lube. And he doesn’t care that he saw how Sho’s powers destroyed the world as he inserts one finger, two fingers inside Sho, and hears him mewl at the sensation it causes. He doesn’t care that the man was close to killing them all as he bites Sakurai’s nipple, distracting him as he presses a third and last finger inside Sho’s hole.   
The man is moaning loudly, his sounds drowned out by Jun’s own growling as he prepares his cock by covering it in lube, distracted at the pale silhouette rubbing itself against him, pulling him harshly down by his hair, hooking a leg around his hip.   
Jun only feels love for this deadly, powerful being underneath him as he presses his hard erection against Sho, pushes in forcefully, stretching the man and earning a deep sigh in return. Like he’s soothing a thirst, a need inside the lieutenant of the group. A thirst that is mirrored in him, in the way he presses all the way inside, in the way he digs his nails into the soft skin at Sho’s hips, in the way he snaps his hips roughly.   
Jun groans at the feeling of Sho clenching around him, and he moans the other man’s name, increasing his pace,  
“Oh god, Sho...”   
The other man is completely wrapped around him, his heels digging into his back as his hips meets Jun’s, thrust for thrust. And it’s all too much, so many emotions that they finally come tumbling down inside Jun’s mind as they collide with the fire burning inside Sho. And he roars when shivers of pleasure runs through his whole body while Sho claws into his back and bites his neck hard enough to draw blood. It’s a whole new sensation when Sho’s powers grow with his arousal, his desire, and images are forced inside Jun’s mind. But all Sakurai gives him are images of fireworks and sparks and the pleasure is no longer just filling his body, but his mind too, and he fights to control it all.  
“Jun, please. Please,” Sho moans,  
Lifting one of Sakurai’s legs higher, Jun hits him from another angle and his lover whines, a high pitched sound that pushes all Jun’s triggers. In a harsh, almost painful pace, the bed rocking, he thrusts his cock as far as it can go into Sho, and then he looks into his eyes. Sees the embers and the lights there, and he shakes all over, can’t hold himself back as he pours his love into Sho’s mind, soothes him, reassures him and spills over inside him when he feels his orgasm rumbling down on top of him, pulling him down. In his daze, he feels the other man spilling his semen between them too as they come in unison.     
When he comes down from his haze, his arms wrapped around his Sho, he hears the other man’s whispers in the dark,   
“I love you. I love you so so much Jun. I love you...” it’s almost like a chanting, and when he kisses the other man’s lips, he can taste the salty tears, “Please never leave me again. Please,”  
Sho is crying, and Jun can do nothing but slide down, lie by his lover’s side and pull him close, so close it almost hurts, leaving no room between them.  
“I won’t. I promise I’ll stay right here. I’ll be right by your side. Always Sho.”  
“Thank you. Thank you. I love you... I love you.”    
Jun is afraid the other man is going to crumble right here in his arms with the way he presses himself against Jun. His hands are still roaming all over Jun’s chest and back, never seeming to tire of touching him. Like a stab to his heart, Jun realizes that Sho still doesn’t believe that he is awake. He is still unsure whether Jun will leave him again, breaking down on the ground all alone. The man is utterly terrified that he is going to wake up and find Jun dead once more.   
Jun can’t even begin to comprehend what Sho witnessed inside his fragile mind. And he can’t prevent his crying when he realizes how broken Sho is.  
“Oh Sho...” he whispers to the darkness, caressing his lover’s back, running his hands through his hair.  
But Sho is alive. Sho woke up as Sho, recognizing Jun. And he loves Jun still, as much as Jun loves him. And Jun can work with that. They can take it from here. Jun will make sure to get Sho back. Stubborn, arrogant, intelligent Sho. The Sho he fell in love with.  
“I swear. I’ll save you.”


	24. Camping with Arashi

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Riida got the idea for a camping trip. But this time, it's not only an excuse to go fishing.

_Ninomiya’s POV:_  
It was a stupid, stupid idea. No really.   
Everyone had agreed that it’d be really great to take a trip, all of them together, just out of town, into the forest by a lake or something. Everyone except Nino. Why should he leave the nice comfortable atmosphere in the apartment? Why should he walk all the way out here where there was nothing but mud and insects. When he could lie home comfortably in the big, soft sofa and play his Nintendo DS while drinking beer. And rest his head in Ohno’s lap.  
But Satoshi was out here with all of the others. If not Aiba, the oldest member of the group was the one keenest on the idea. Of course. Out here he’d be able to feel the soft ground underneath his feet, he could be one with nature and fly on the breeze. And he could fish, and watch the plants grow. Though not his own.  
Nino couldn’t understand the man at all. What was so great about nature?  
  
The gamer threw a glance in Sho’s direction, as discreetly as possible. The other man wasn’t looking at him. He was resting his eyes on Jun, but oddly not seeing at all.   
And Nino admitted that the trip might be a good idea after all. Since about a month ago in the streets, facing the criminal with the terrifying powers, Sakurai hadn’t been himself. One moment he was calm, so calm that he looked almost emotionless, blank. Then the next moment he’d be white as a sheet, and he’d panic, not being able to calm down before Jun put his arms around him telling him it’d be alright. That they were all still here. That they weren’t dead. That he wasn’t alone.  
As much as Ninomiya tried to, as much as he wanted to, he couldn’t completely understand the telepath. Because he hadn’t seen what Sho had seen. But he had seen Sho’s frightening powers. He had seen the man snap completely out of it. Had seen the world around them turning in on itself. Seen the fire in Sho’s eyes, his body radiating so much heat that the man was looking like he was literally on fire. And everything was chaos around him. Far more chaos than ever before. Than he could ever have imagined. The criminal hadn’t stood a chance. He probably hadn’t even been given the time to think, before he was blasted to smithereens. Maybe he was still thinking he was winning, when he was suddenly no longer.   
Sakurai hadn’t wanted to talk about it. He didn’t want to tell the others what he’d seen. First, when they’d tried to force it out of him, he had broken down crying. The man was a bit softer than the others, that Kazunari admitted, but he had never seen him cry. Not like that. It was so heartbreakingly full of grief, that Nino himself had gotten tears in his eyes. Since then, none of them had dared bring up the subject. Even so, they were worried about their fellow member. Because not only had he seen things which had frightened him to the bone, his powers were terrifying to him too. Sho had never been good at controlling his powers, always quick to get riled up, but none of them… None of them had known what he could do. Known what his _anger_ could do. And Sakurai was probably the one most anxious and reluctant to see those powers again. Ever.  
  
_Sho’s POV:  
_ After the happening, they all needed their peace and quiet. They needed time together. To remind themselves that their friends were not gone. Least not him. He needed to keep seeing them in front of him. He needed to be able to feel their presence around him. He needed to be reminded that he could just reach out his hand, and he’d be able to touch Jun. Hold him if he wanted to. Every fibre in his body was still on high alert, seemingly not being able to get enough of the contact with the other member. Sho was scared. He was scared he was going to lose them all. He was afraid he was going to lose Matsumoto Jun. And his whole body was afraid too. He often had nightmares. Re-experiencing what happened, and he’d wake up screaming, covered in sweat and shaking so badly, he couldn’t fall asleep again. He felt haunted. All the time.  
And then Ohno had suggested this trip. The leader who always preferred sleeping, had suggested they go out and do something active together. Sho knew better than to refuse something like that. Especially when he’d seen the concern in the older man’s eyes. That was how they all looked at him now. They knew something was wrong, so they tread cautiously all the time. He felt as if they wrapped him in cotton, taking care not to press any of his buttons. It felt weird.  
Lonely.  
Even Ninomiya who always used to joke around with him, testing his temper in every way, and oft times received beatings for it, was now holding back and keeping his distance.  
It made Sho so sad. This was what he’d wanted to avoid. The gap between him and his friends. Because they were afraid of him now. They were afraid he was going to hurt them. _He_ was afraid he was going hurt them. And that was the greatest pain of all.   
Aiba was probably the one who was the worst at hiding it. To see the nervous fidgeting he did when Sho opposed to an idea he or Nino came up with was _unbearable_. He almost didn’t dare talk to Sakurai anymore. The small jests Sho had made on him once in a while, letting his football roll away from him as he was trying to reach it, or pull down his pants in the middle of the living room, that he could not do anymore without Aiba jumping up in fear. Even Sho could see how the happy member was shaking all over at those times.  
So far, Jun was the only one who hadn’t changed. He was taking care of Sho like never before, though, and he never pushed the older man away when he craved attention. He seemed to always know when Sho needed warmth, when a smile could be the most encouraging thing. When a gaze could be reassuring. He held Sakurai’s hand more oft than before, and he was always within reach. He was Sho’s lifeline. His security and his sanity. And it was for him that Sho promised himself to never use his powers again.  
   
_Jun’s POV_   
It wasn’t easy. Having him lie this close.   
All five of them were squeezed in together in the small hut, lying on futons next to each other on the floor. They could’ve chosen to use the beds, but they had probably not been used for years, and the last visitors would’ve been small children with dirt all over them, and sand in their socks. None of the men had wanted to even consider using those beds. So now here he was, lying with Ninomiya on his left, and Sho on his right.  
In the past, it would have taken huge amounts of slyness to convince cock-block Aiba to lie next to Ninomiya and not between Sakurai and Jun. Back then, Nino would have ended up helping, probably throwing a wink behind Masaki’s back afterwards. But now, none of them wanted to lie beside the telepath. Matsumoto has thrown them all a spiteful glance when they threw their eyes to the floor. Served them right. They should be ashamed of their fear of Sakurai. Sho himself had been oblivious to the whole thing, probably having other things more important on his mind, than whom he was to sleep beside. As long as he was close to Jun.   
But Matsumoto had thought about it, and now it was hard to concentrate. In the dark silence, he could only hear his own heart beating, could only feel how he still reacted when Sho was still close. Nothing had changed. Masaki had already fallen asleep – that was clear in the way he was blowing bubbles, but Sho didn’t snore yet. Matsumoto turned towards him in the dark, only seeing the outline of his hair and nose in the light from the moon. He wanted to kiss him so badly. He wanted to reach out his hand and trace the outlines of Sho’s face with his fingers, just ever so gently, using touch to guide himself in the dark. He couldn’t see if Sho’s eyes were closed as well, and the thought of Sho staring right back at him the same way made his heart beat fast. He felt as if his breath was very loud in the room, drowning out the other sounds. Now he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep. He sighed deeply, smiling at himself for being so in love. Maybe he would just fall asleep looking at the older man, imagining his warmth all over him.  
Out of the dark, so subtle, that he didn’t notice until it was very close, he felt a hand sneak under his covers, touching his abdomen. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on when Sakurai snorted quietly beside him.  
“Omae…” Jun whispered, nerves and lust causing his heart rate to increase to a hundred in one millisecond.  
“Are you planning on staring at me all night? It’s distracting you know,” the other member whispered back, and the dim light reflected off his smile.  
 Matsumoto couldn’t decide if he wanted to melt slowly into Sakurai’s arms or throw himself at him hungrily. Then Sho’s hand purposefully moved down, inside his boxers, and took hold of him. He instantly arched his back, clenching his teeth. They would wake the others! Didn’t Sho know that?  
“Omae!” Jun hissed again, trying to glare through the darkness at his lover.  
“Sshh, they’re sleeping,” Sho answered back, and Matsumoto could just imagine his smug smile.  
_Damn._ As if he didn't know? Was Sho an idiot?  
Sakurai’s hand was stroking his member oh so slowly up and down, and it was all Jun could do to stay silent, occasionally letting a restrained breath escape his lips when a wave of pleasure went through him. The older man was pushing him, and if Jun knew him well enough, he was doing it on purpose. So, as he saw Sakurai’s shadow rise beside him, leaning on an elbow, hovering above him and blocking the dim light from the window, Matsumoto decided to take over. He turned over and pushed Sho down, earning a grunt in surprise, and then he brought his lips down over the other man’s, covering them completely. The rapper’s lips pushed against his, and he lifted a hand to place it on Jun’s naked waist sending a shiver through the younger member. Jun then aggressively pushed his tongue in between the delicious, soft lips to meet the heat of Sho’s mouth. While he let Sakurai lose himself for a moment as they fought for dominance, which he himself was winning, he held him down with a hand on the man’s right pectoral muscle, and used the other to, impatiently, cup Sho’s hardened cock. He growled approvingly, turned on badly now, biting the older man’s lower lip. The blackness around them was heating up fast, and Matsumoto was slowly losing his concern for the other members. Now there existed only Sho between his fingers as he began pumping him, just like Sho had done to him mere minutes ago. But he was moving differently, he didn’t beat around the bush as he stroked him fast enough for Sakurai to groan into his mouth. The man was squirming a bit under him, rising from the bed and Matsumoto finally let go of his lips, sore from Sho having sucked on them to keep himself in control. He was trying to be as quiet as possible, but his breath was becoming just as ragged as Sho’s. Didn’t the older member consider the others at all? He was breathing too heavily, Jun noticed, but even so, now that he had him in his power he had no intention of letting him go easily. He attacked Sho’s neck with his mouth. That broad, smooth neck Jun could never stop staring at when Sho was rapping. And he had noticed another thing too. The thick neck vein that always popped out on the side of his neck, when Sho sang or yelled, also protruded when he was pleasured. When Matsumoto did something right. When he moaned. And especially when he came.  
He slid his tongue across Sakurai’s collarbones, and let his right hand trace a pattern on his breast. When he played with Sho’s nipple he lifted his head to study the older man’s face and smiled triumphantly.  
“I hope they’re in deep sleep Sakurai.” He threatened.  
Sho got a quick peck on the lips, before Jun turned his attention back to his well-trained upper body. His left hand had slowed down around the erect member, and he occasionally gave it a gentle squeeze, before returning to stroke the head. Sakurai sighed deeply, and Matsumoto didn’t fail to notice how the moan was close underneath the surface. The thought of having the other members hear them, for them to wake or notice the other two together, actually made it all more exciting. Matsumoto found that he liked it, and even if they were to be bullied by Nino in the morning it was so worth it. Seeing Sho like this underneath him too, struggling to stay in control of his body. To think that he, Matsumoto, was doing this to him caused a violent stir to his member. He swallowed and removed his hand.   
Matsumoto had time to see Sho opening his glazy eyes and gaze down at him right before he took his cock into his mouth.   
“Ahn!”   
Jun imagined Sho throwing his head back as slender fingers dug into his hair. He tasted salty, pre-cum covering the tip of his cock, and Jun started sucking him teasingly, swirling his tongue around the base, before he continued up to the tip to give it a quick lick. He continued this rhythm, occasionally opening his eyes to see how the muscles of Sho’s thighs tightened, and loosened to his slow torture.   
“Jun…” Sakurai sighed, a strain in his dark voice, “You… Demon.”  
Matsumoto chuckled, causing a vibration in his throat and Sakurai groaned, scratching his scalp and bucking his hips. He started moving with Jun, trying to push himself further down Jun’s throat as he sucked, and Jun obliged. He ignored the slightly choking sensation as he swallowed all of him.   
To the right of him, he heard a small noise, possibly belonging to Nino, but he was way too far in to take further note of it. Of whether the small man was just turning in his sleep or if he was dreaming. If he was asleep or awake.   
Sho was clawing painfully in his hair, and had completely given up on holding back his moans. Each time Jun deep-throated him, he would groan darkly, as only Sho could do it, and Matsumoto was so close to taking his own cock in hand to relieve himself of some of the pain. But this was for Sho, and it was so worth it. He smirked, and increased his pace, pumping up and down, only slowing at the very base of Sho’s cock to guide it all the way down his throat. It had become so hot in the room, and Matsumoto was quite sure the room had become smaller, now only containing the two of them.  
“Jun…” Sakurai moaned, struggling and pulling at thick locks of hair.  
Matsumoto knew what it meant, and so, when Sho stilled, he did his best to swallow all of what he was given. Sho’s head fell back, and the moonlight graced his features, casting shadows over his face and the neck vein appeared as he moaned loudly, a growling sigh as he came.    
Sakurai relaxed, and Jun licked his lips before he returned to lie down beside the man with the telepathic abilities. He smiled in the darkness, though he was unsure whether Sho could see him. In the window behind the other member, he could see the moon, so it was possible that Sakurai could see his face. At least, he felt Sho’s warm hand as it stroked his cheek.  
“That was dangerous, Matsumoto.” he laughed ghostly.  
Waves of happiness surged through Jun at the sound, but even so, he was sore between his legs, his own cock throbbing painfully.   
“Excuse me…”  
He grabbed hold of himself, but was stopped by the same warm hand that had been at his face. Sakurai grinned silently, or so Jun guessed, as his white teeth once again showed in the darkness.  
Sho made quick business of things, stroking him fast and harshly, as Jun liked it, and as hard as he already was, it didn’t take long for Matsumoto to come both in Sho’s hand and all over his own lower abdomen. When he was unsure whether he could hold back his own high-pitched moan, Sho’s lips claimed his, and he swallowed Jun’s voice in a passionate kiss.  
Matsumoto wrapped his arms around the older member, holding onto his muscular shoulder blades, and like that, he had no trouble falling asleep, his legs tangled up with Sho’s and Sho’s lips against his forehead.  
  
_Masaki’s POV:_  
The day had been a bit less quiet among the members compared to the last week. The atmosphere was still awkward though, and few of them dared joke around when Sho was near. Aiba felt horrible about it. He was admittedly terrified of his friend, but he felt so bad for not being able to hide it. He didn’t want to flinch every time Sho got too close, he didn’t want to feel the clutching in his chest every time he got eye contact with the telepath, because Sakurai was his friend, and he knew that he wouldn’t hurt him. Never. Even so...  
Maybe it was too much to ask for, but Masaki hoped beyond belief that Jun could cure Sho. That he could bring back the man who was still only a shadow of himself.   
Aiba watched the two of them from across the stove as Matsumoto seemingly showed Sakurai something he’d found in the forest behind the wooden cabins. Whether it was a rock or something else, Masaki didn’t know, but Sho still listened with interest, though he was only looking at Jun’s face with fondness, and not the rock. They sat at the benches at the tables, a distance put between them and Ohno who was toying with something in his lap a couple of meters away from them. The cabins were usually used for scouts out on a holiday trip, so there were plenty of tables in the huge dining room. The kitchen was more than big enough too for only the five of them. But Matsumoto seemed very enthusiastic about it. He had already talked about all the different kinds of meals he was going to prepare here – all wildlife inspired. Aiba hoped he wouldn’t force them to eat something like bear. Or squirrel. He wouldn’t mind the cinnamon pancakes the youngest member had boasted about for breakfast though.  
Today, Aiba had promised he’d prepare their dinner. Turning his gaze away from his friends, he stirred the big pot beside him. The strong group member wasn’t a shark in a kitchen like Jun, but he did pride himself with the ability to make a smashing curry. He figured they’d all need a strong, hot curry after the long day.  
First thing in the morning all of them had woken up to Ninomiya standing on his futon, wearing nothing but his underpants, pointing accusingly at Jun for disturbing his beauty-sleep. _“Did you really have to blow him tonight? Of all nights!? And I was lying just beside you, you swine!”_ he’d yelled, and Aiba had turned to Sho first, braising himself should a thing come flying, or even worse – should the man himself explode. But Sho had only laughed. Laughed so the crinkles around his eyes showed. And Aiba had relaxed for the first time in a very long time. None of the others had been able to hold back their own laughs them. It had been so long since they had seen Sho’s grin, since they’d laughed together, and it had certainly been a great step in the right direction. Aiba hoped, for both Nino and Sho’s sakes that the gamer would be brave enough to start his bullying again. As annoying as Aiba remembered the man to be, he missed his pranks. And if he missed them, he could only imagine how Sho felt about Ninomiya ignoring him.   
They’d moved on to doing some ‘team-building’ after breakfast, which – of course – had been Jun’s “stupid” idea, as Nino didn’t hesitate to tell the man. Aiba was sure that Matsumoto was far from Mister Popular with the imp today, but to the strong man the thought of doing team-building was thrilling. And he did win every single game the youngest man had made up after all. Aside from the one where they’d had to team up for Tug of War and he’d ended up with Nino. - Which resulted in the smaller group member refusing to help, and Aiba ending up face first in the mud. But they’d had fun, all of them. Even Sho had participated, though rather weakly and hesitantly, and he’d looked like he enjoyed himself. And it warmed Aiba’s heart.   
He could do nothing but agree that this trip was one of Riida’s better ideas.   
  
_Jun’s POV_  
They had spent three days in the area, doing nothing put fooling around in the nature and eating hearty meals, when Jun took Sho with him into the forest.  
The older man had followed his lover with no further protests, and was just walking quietly with his warm hand in Jun’s. As much as the trip was definitely working out for the telepath, it wasn’t working fast enough. And as much as the other group members finally started to loosen up around the older man, the man himself was still far from his confident, previous self. Which was something Matsumoto just wouldn’t accept. Sho couldn’t see it, but Jun could. Sho wasn’t Sho without his powers. He _was_ his telepathic abilities. They were closely tied to his emotions, so when he’d locked those powers away, he’d done the same with his emotions. Of course, his love for Jun didn’t seem to be wavering, but his eyes were still empty, lost, and he had trouble being enthusiastic about anything. Even if he tried smiling, tried laughing, Jun could easily see through his scheme, it wasn’t real. It was far from Sho’s real face. And he couldn’t keep pretending. It would only make him forget how it really _felt_ to have emotions. Only at night in the dark did Sho show Matsumoto a glimpse of his older self when they made love, and Sho seemingly removed the barriers on his mind.  
Jun admitted, he’d wish he didn’t have to deal with his strong emotions all the time, but with his powers, he did know everything about the human feelings after all. And as a human, you just couldn’t lack those.   
“Jun-kun, where are we going?” Sho finally asked.  
They’d been walking for almost three hours, so Matsumoto wasn’t surprised to hear him ask. Honestly, he was only surprised that the older man had stayed patient for so long. Old Sho wouldn’t have been this patient.  
The younger member waited for a couple of minutes before he answered. He stopped in a small clearing in the forest, a circle of about three meters in diameter with no trees, only a bush here and there and soft, green grass. The sun shone down on them and he tilted his head, closing one eye at the light after turning towards his lover,  
“I brought you here, Sho-kun, for a purpose,”  
_“I sure hope so.”_  
“Okay,”  
That wasn’t what old Sho would’ve said.  
Taking a deep breath, Jun decided to dive straight for it. It had been postponed for way too long, and his heart broke every time Sho spoke with the voice of a stranger.  
“You’re going to use your powers here,” Sho’s eyes widened at the words, so Jun decided to continue as fast as possible: “You can’t hold them back as you did in the past, before Arashi. You know that as well as I. You’ll just end up exploding again. And we both know that the nightmares have started again...”  
Jun crossed his arms, and felt slightly bad for being so stern when he saw how Sho’s face fell, how his shoulders slumped. Admitted, Matsumoto was scared of Sho’s powers too, but he’d come to realize that there was no other way out of this. And he had wondered if Sakurai knew just how much it hurt Jun to see him like this. This fake Sho was not who Jun wanted.  
He tried smiling for the other man as he put a gentle hand on his angled shoulder,  
“Baby steps Sho-kun. Please...? Look at me please, Sho,” he forced his lover’s head up to look deeply into his eyes, “Do it for me? Just try? I...”  
There were tears in Sakurai’s eyes, and Jun had to bite his lip before he could continue,  
“I miss you.”  
_  
Ohno’s POV:_  
It had been awfully quiet in his head after Sho decided to shut off his powers.  
The leader of the group knew that he probably wasn’t the only one feeling that way. In the past, the telepath would sometimes use his powers to gain an advantage in an argument with the other members. More than often, he’d put images in their minds to get them to agree to some of his ideas, not letting them imagine the outcomes for themselves. The fact that he could throw things at people with a mere flick of a thought had also resulted in many laughs (and bruises). Sho was a man who used to wear his emotions on his sleeves, quite literally, a trait Ohno actually loved about him. The man was always so terribly honest, and if he wasn’t, his powers would surely tell if he was trying to lie. But aside from all the fun and games the telepath could get out of it, the important piece he used to play in a fight was now next to useless. His strategic abilities, and power to read minds as well as to let people read his, had been very vital to share intel when facing an opponent. Ohno had thought Sho’s part essential for their teamwork, another reason why he was called the lieutenant of the group.  
But now it was just quiet. The telepath had locked his powers away, and, well, could really no longer be called a telepath.   
Now he was just Sakurai Sho.  
Or the shell of Sakurai Sho.  
With eyes drifting across the still water in front of him, Ohno couldn’t help but think about his fellow group member. How he was feeling. If he was feeling anything at all. He hadn’t forgotten what Jun had told him about how Sho’s emotions had died along with his willingness to use the powers he was born with.   
Satoshi knew which Sho he preferred. That was why he had insisted when he’d gotten the idea for this trip. Even if it was also for the fishing – which he had definitely enjoyed, actually so much that Ninomiya told him he was boring – it was mostly for Sho to find himself again. And he’d need all the help he could get.  
  
The fish still weren’t biting, so the leader turned his head to gaze at the forest. During the day it looked light and welcoming, right out of a fairy-tail, but at night I’d turn darker than that. And Sakurai had been there for four days now.   
  
Matsumoto suddenly came and joined him an hour after. He still hadn’t caught anything, instead settling for just staring into space. He was good at that.  
The younger man sat down next to him, but stayed quiet, following his example of looking out across the water. Ohno figured the man had a lot on his mind.   
“Are you worried about him?” he finally asked after the silence had stretched for a good while.  
Watching as Jun leaned back on his arms, the sun hitting the orbs of his eyes making them look like the colour of light topaz, he gave the younger man time to ponder,  
“No,” he said then, sighing and lying down on his side in the grass. He played with a straw of grass, “Not for his safety at least. I know nothing can hurt him. No one aside from himself,”  
The look he shot Ohno was full of sorrow. He was still grieving for his lover, Ohno realized. He couldn’t blame him. The leader couldn’t possibly imagine how he’d feel if the same thing happened to Nino.   
Satoshi sent Jun a soft smile,  
“I’m sure Sho-kun is fighting for you,” he said,  causing Jun to widen his eyes, “He loves you, so he’ll do anything for you. If you ask for the old Sho-kun, he’ll do everything within his powers to return him to you. I’m sure of it.”  
He hoped he managed to reassure him.  
Jun had tears in his eyes when he answered:  
“But I just doubt if he has the strength to fight himself.”  
_If he can’t, then no one can._


	25. What is Strength?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so Jun left Sho to himself, alone in the forest, to fight against his own powers.

Jun had left him in the middle of the forest. The way his eyes had been so full of sorrow, so lost of hope didn’t match the words he’d said to Sho. How could Sho then be sure that Jun meant what he’d said? How could he be sure that Jun believed he could do it? Did he even believe it himself?   
It felt as if Jun had abandoned him here. The forest felt like a stranger to him, the wind not even paying him any mind – it was as if nature’s life had left too. The silence was deafening until he began to hear the soaring in his ears. The vibrations, the drums.  
He hadn’t been able to look at Matsumoto as he’d turned his back to Sho and walked home to the cabins by himself. Leaving Sho to himself and his powers.  
And as soon as he was gone - as soon as Sho couldn’t feel his presence anymore - the pain was there. That thumping pain in his head that had been just dull ache to begin with, but as he’d kept pressing it down, it had spread and increased in strength.  
Jun was right. He couldn’t hold back his powers. They were destroying him from the inside if he didn’t release them. They were tearing at his muscles, at his nerves and poisoning his blood.   
And they were polluting his sanity. Even now, it was hard to let go again, to start to feel anything again.  
But Sho was sure he didn’t want to forget. He didn’t want to become the inhuman being he’d been before he found Arashi. That wasn’t going to happen. Because now he’d found Jun. And he was definitely not going to let go of him.   
But he was terrified.  
  
He sat down on the soft forest floor, legs crossed, and closed his eyes. He couldn’t release all of it again at once, not when he’d locked his powers away for so long. Letting all of it go would be disastrous. So, as he closed out the world around him, and opened up inside himself again, he did the opposite of what he’d been doing for what felt like an eternity.   
It was frustrating to backtrack. To go back to where he’d begun. But he’d been progressing in the wrong direction, so he had to go back. Besides, he wasn’t returning to the very same place. Because he knew that where he’d be returning to was right next to Jun. Right next to the rest of Arashi. And that wasn’t so bad.  
  
There were no cool hands to help him this time, no soothing voice to support him on the way, so he had to imagine those things being there. His whole body was shaking uncontrollably, while he tried to remember how it felt to have Jun’s soft hands calm his mind, imagining that the man was beside him, standing no more than a few centimetres from him. Even if the gnawing feeling of betrayal gave him tears in his eyes.   
Behind his eyelids, he wasn’t alone in the forest. He wasn’t kilometres away from his friends – they were supporting him, rooting for him as turned the valve in his mind, as he opened up for the heat again, and it slowly coursed through his body like scorching quicksilver.  
Sho clenched his jaw and bit his lip as the pain increased. What had he expected? He didn’t remember it being this difficult. Maybe because it was the second time he did it, his insides fought harder against him. He wasn’t sure.   
Time was an abstract thing for him, he didn’t see or hear anything, only felt how the blinding light in his mind writhed and burned, how it filled him till he was sure his whole body shone from it. But he wasn’t finished before he managed to calm it himself. Before he learned how much to release every second.   
Through the process all sorts of emotions ran through him, but mostly he was angry. The temper of his felt ten times more powerful than usual, and he soon forgot how he managed to rein the desire to destroy the whole word in the whiteness of his inner world.   
At some point he started hearing things in his mind. Whispers and mumbles, thoughts of creatures around him. He started sensing the presence of the rabbits, the birds, the insects. He started sensing how the grass grew underneath him, how flowers blossomed on the branches of trees around him. He even told himself once that he could sense how a string hit water in a lake some kilometres away. But that might just have been wishful thinking.   
  
While he was silently fighting, a gnawing fear kept him from trusting that what he was doing was right. It held him back. And it wasn’t until he felt numb from the continuous prickling of a thousand knives on his skin, that he realised what his hesitation did for his progress.  
And he was still frightened.  
_Jun._  
_I’m going to let go completely now._  
As his control slipped, he thought of his lover, his lifeline.   
_If this doesn’t work...  
_ Somehow, Sho knew that if he didn’t succeed, he wouldn’t be able to return to Arashi. - If he even lived to make the choice. No way he could return to Jun if he didn’t win.  
_Thank you for trusting me._  
And then it became too much. He felt as if he was forced out of his own mind, forced out with a gasp, to be aware of his surroundings again.   
Sho gripped his knees so tightly that his nails dug into skin, and blood seeped out of the wounds. The colour was a blinding, blurry red to his sore eyes. He felt pain on his outsides, felt how sweat ran down his back, his neck, his chest. He was suddenly aware of how dark it was around him. How the darkness seemed to be covering from the light of his body. The white light he’d seen before. The light which was an eternal presence inside him, but which had escaped him recently, crushed him. That wasn’t going to happen again.  
_I won’t let it._   
Imagining himself to be of steel, to be stronger than he was, he _pushed_ himself back into his mind, to leave the outside world to itself and focus only on himself.  


...

  
Sho was exhausted. But he felt present.   
Gingerly he opened his eyes and let them sweep over his surroundings. At first he blinked through the mist disturbing his sight, until things started to take shape again. Bathed in twilight, he saw how the trees around him were turned over, roots up. Leafs were dancing in the air, but not helped by the wind. With a small, gentle flicker of his mind, he smiled to see how he could make them move at his will. He experimented with drawing drops of water from the grass beneath him, breaking dry twigs on the ground. Every motion was a warm caress inside him, a feeling which was almost soothing, relaxing. With every subtle use of his powers, exhaustion was drawn out of him like poison from a wound. _Babysteps._  
Sho moved as slowly as he could, never pushing himself to try more difficult things. It was important that he knew what he was doing, that his powers only did what he willed them to do. And nothing more.  
Touching the trees with stronger tendrils of his mind, he slowly lifted one of them at a time, tipped them over, placing their roots back in the ground, covering them with dirt again, hoping they would continue living, growing stronger. Like himself.   
He didn’t want to be a destroyer of life. But his gaze followed his finger as he placed it on the ground, stroking the grass and creating a crack in the earth underneath it.   
Finally getting up, he removed his finger, but kept pointing where he wanted the forest floor to split in two. To move his body again felt strange. His throat was raw, as if he’d been screaming non-stop for a week – he could not remember if he had - , and his eyelids were heavy, dry, his cheeks swollen. He was stiff and slightly wobbly, but he felt lighter than he’d felt for long time. The heaviness from his burden had lifted, and he suddenly laughed. If he didn’t know better, he’d say he was flying like Ohno. Except his feet were securely planted on the ground. But that was ok. He was still here, and that was fine too. Sho lifted his arms up, his laughter filling his ears, carried through the forest on the wind, and the freedom he felt was wonderful as he spread his arms and the ground rose in front of him, a mountain rising to the skies. And it wasn’t a disaster, it wasn’t a catastrophe when he looked at the creation in front of him, what he’d made his mind do for him. Because it was all in his control. And the white light was a soothing presence now. It was part of his mind. And even if he knew how it’d spike when he got angry, how it’d strike like electricity when he was aroused, it was ok, because he was sure he knew the sensations now, and how the light could be morphed into gentle waves, like water over a raging fire.  
His whole body felt different, he felt new. Even so, there was no way he could change himself, no way he could erase his temper and his stubbornness, and in that aspect, his powers were still incontrollable. That being said, he was only human. And that was why he needed Jun to be there. That was why he needed Ohno, Nino and Aiba to be there for him. He needed Arashi, as he hoped they needed him. He couldn’t be alone. And maybe that wasn’t really so bad. Truthfully.


	26. A tale of a lion

All the anger, all the pain. Everything was no longer an infinite presence. When he guided his hands over the skin of his lover, he could still feel the heat underneath, the boiling power, the energy. But it all felt contained, in control and it was calm. Like a slumbering firepit of still-warm embers. And he felt soothed.  
Closing his eyes, Jun brushed his lips over the telepath’s cheek, his nose, his temples and down to his jaw again, before he found the pouty lips and brought them in for a kiss. It was gentle and soft, loving, not taking more than Jun could give them, giving him no more than he wanted.   
He would give his everything for this man beside him, he knew he would have sacrificed himself if it had been needed, if Sho’s strength had not been sufficient. He would’ve given his all; his cooling hands and his calm voice, and he’d continue to give it, had his lover exploded right beside him and taken his body with him.   
But now he was here. He was back in his arms. He was truly back, body and soul, and Jun still didn’t dare open his eyes, confirm if the body heat he felt, the smells and the sounds, if they were real, and not part of his dreams of Sho.  
“Jun…”  
A whisper in the darkness.   
A deep voice he would recognize anywhere, at any time, in any space. He sighed, but the sound came out as a quiet sob.   
He really was back. It really was him. And Jun been on the verge of giving up. A week was a long time. And he knew there’d probably been no way a man could survive in the forest alone without anything.   
“Sho…” he managed to whisper back and his voice was so, so fragile.  
_I thought I’d never see you again. I thought I’d killed you.  
_ “It’s… you?”  
One thing was having Sho back. Another thing was having the old Sho back.  
But Jun knew Sho would’ve never come back if he hadn’t succeeded. The thought brought tears to his eyes.  
He felt warm hands envelop his face, felt fingers moving up and over his eyes.  
“Look at me, Jun,” the voice said, the fingers moving down and over his full lips again, “See me.”  
And Matsumoto finally lifted his eyelids, let the weak light from the moon give him the visibility he needed to see the other man standing here with him, in front of the lake. And he saw what he most dearly wished to see. Sho had found his way back to him. Found him, when he’d broken down at night, when he couldn’t sleep because of the gnawing pain in his stomach; the guilt and the longing. Again, Sho had found him when he needed him the most.  
He swallowed when he looked into the deep, black ponds that were Sho’s eyes. Even under the dim light, he’d never seen anything so clearly.  
His hands slid down Sho’s neck, over his chest, “I see you,” he croaked, pretending to be brave.  
He was not a crybaby, he wasn’t scared, he was fierce, he was a lion…  
“Sho…”   
And then he sobbed and threw his arms around the man, pulled him as close as he could, not caring if he hurt the other member. He needed to feel him as close as he could, share the life of his body, needed continuously to make sure that his Sho was here. _His_ Sho.  
What was he without him? What did he have of value in this world if not Sho? Without Sho he was nothing. He was scared and weak, and seeking help. He was a useless creature without his strength beside him. Because that was what Sho had become. Not just his best friend, his lover or his dream. He’d become Jun’s strength, as Jun was Sho’s strength. He couldn’t exist without him.  
And now he felt warmth returning to his body, a ridiculous, hysterical happiness spreading towards his heart, making him feel like he was on fire. And he knew he would never let that fire go again.


	27. Epilogue 1: The importance of reading the newspaper

He was lying on his stomach on the couch, reading today’s newspaper as always. It was past dinner, and he was full and content. As always when Jun was the one cooking. Today the youngest member had made a rich miso soup with fish and homemade bread at the side. Sho had loved it. Well, of course he had. Because he loved fish. He loved food.  
And he loved Jun.  
Speaking of which as Sho was reading an article involving how Ohno Satoshi had prevented an earthquake from destroying the embassy, he felt a weight on his back. And not just a slight weight. Someone sat on him, placing a leg on either side of his torso. He was just about to turn around, complaining with something along the lines of ‘Oi! What are you doing?’, when someone stuck their face into the crook that the back of Sho’s neck made while he was reading. A familiar smell of one certain cologne filled his nostrils, brown hair tickled his cheek, and he was pressed further into the couch as the weight shifted. Then he heard Jun’s happy, gentle sigh, and turned his head as much as possible, so that he could at least get a glimpse of Matsumoto’s right thigh. He was wearing black jeans, Sho noticed. He chuckled lightly, and reached back to give the thigh an affectionate pat.   
“Jun, I am trying to read here you know.” He protested half-heartedly.   
The other man didn’t move, “Don’t let me stop you. Please keep reading.” Came his muffled answer, but Matsumoto didn’t get off.   
As Sho turned back to the paper in his hands, Jun was practically lying on top of the older man, his front pressed to Sakurai’s back, his head resting on top of the other’s. Although he tried, the rapper couldn’t focus on the words on the paper at all. His mind was way too occupied with noticing the heat and weight of his fellow member. He let a small, dark chuckle slip again as he folded the material together,  
“No, really that is impossible when you keep lying there like that. You’re heavy, you know!” he said, wiggling slightly, making a move to turn around.  
Matsumoto snorted fake-affronted, but removed his head, when Sho lifted himself and turned around, supporting himself by putting a hand on Jun’s thigh. As their eyes met, the youngest member smiled almost triumphantly, eyes shining with affection. Looking like this, he reminded Sho of some annoying insect, nothing but huge teeth and eyes, so innocent and yet so damn irritating.   
“You. Are. A. Pain. In. The. Butt. JUN.” He put emphasis on every word, as he wiggled completely free of Jun, only to push the other man down, putting a hand to his chest.  
Matsumoto let him do it, all the while looking into Sho’s eyes, enabling the older man to notice the change in the playful glint, from something childish to something waaay more adult. As Sho pressed his thigh in between Jun’s legs, he wondered if this was what Matsumoto had been after, acting all cute and loveable, distracting Sho.   
But that didn’t really matter, he concluded as he felt a soft hand on the back of his neck, pulling him down on top of the other man, guiding their lips to meet. 


	28. Epilogue 2: Okaeri

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sho is out late working, but he does not forget about Jun. And Jun does not forget about him.

If he had been home, he probably would’ve noticed. The smell and the subtle sounds of pots and pans being used in the kitchen certainly would’ve had him jumping eagerly from the couch, abandoning his newspaper; both with the anticipation for good food, and for a certain someone standing at the stove, apron around his narrow waist.  
But he wasn’t home. Not yet at least.  
Sho had been at the minister’s office today, speaking on behalf of Arashi about the recent events and how they were now fully ready and back on track to take care of things, should the police be unable to handle a certain situation. Sho himself was probably the one mostly back on track, as he had been the one mostly… Off track.  
So there was no way he could’ve noticed the delicious cooking Jun was making tonight. The group did not celebrate Easter much, but it had been some sort of very bad excuse to celebrate, when the calendar conveniently showed the 3rd of April, and Jun had been quick to grab the wooden spoon from the jar where he kept many of his kitchen utensils.   
Too bad Sho wasn’t home to look forward to his lover’s cooking.  
  
Matsumoto had probably hoped Sho could make it home for dinner, but when the older man stepped through the doors at 11 pm. the kitchen was dark, the table was cleaned and only if he closed his eyes and sniffed the air, would he be able to smell what had been waiting there, on the table, had he been home earlier.  
Well. The others always did leave the boring jobs no one wanted for him.  
The telepath sighed. A hollow sound in the empty living room. He couldn’t blame his friends for withdrawing to bed early – it had been a very tough week. Or rather week _s_. Maybe months.  
Sho had lost track of time.   
He placed the small square box on the counter, and went around to check if Jun should’ve left him something in the fridge after all… He guided his way through the darkness, able to distinguish furniture by the vague moonlight coming through the windows, and the route to the food he had already learned by heart. When he found the handle, and opened the fridge, he had to blink a few times against the bright light. It left him feeling like he was standing in a very bright, almost blue box, surrounded by darkness like this. With a grumbling stomach, his brown eyes searched the shelves. Jun usually left something for him in small tubberware boxes…  
“And what do you think you’re doing?”  
Sho’s head instantly shot up, leaning over the side of the fridge – still not closing it – to search for the owner of the voice, though he already knew who he’d find. And said person would stand with his arms crossed, an amused twinkle in his eyes, and a smirk. There was no way Jun could be mad at him. Even if he stole food from the storage. Which he didn’t. He hadn’t. Not yet at least.  
Sho couldn’t see a thing behind the door when he was bathed in light like this, so in the end, he abandoned the food in favor of greeting his pretend-mad boyfriend. He closed the refrigerator.   
“Hmm… Nothing,” he answered, hiding his grin in the dark.  
“Hn…?” The answer from the space of black got closer as the man dragged out the tone, “Are you sure about that now?”  
The other member had come to stand right in front of Sho, his voice in his ears, his breath on his face. And Sakurai just couldn’t help but smile brightly, imagining the look on Jun’s face. Just imagining Jun’s face basically. It left his heart beating fast, heat spreading all over his skin. He could not help the chuckle escaping his lips. It was not on purpose. Really. And he wasn’t making fun of Jun, really!  
The person in front of him grumbled something indistinctive,  
“Someone thinks this is funny.”  
And Sho wanted to apologize, he really did, when he heard how dark Jun’s voice sounded, but he couldn’t. How could he apologize for just being so much in love? Then he realized he didn’t have to. Because Jun stepped further forward and closed the distance between them. Lips found each other even in the dark. With no light, no noise around them, Sho was able to pick up every subtle sound Jun made. The sound of his exhale as his soft lips pressed against Sho’s, the wet sound of his mouth as he opened it when Sho allowed his tongue to enter his own. He could hear the rustle of his pajamas pants as he moved to push Sakurai’s back gently against the fridge, and he could feel so much more. The heat radiating off of Jun’s body in every place; from his lips, from his hands around Sho’s neck, from his waist where Sho was touching, from his legs, and from his abdomen as it now pressed against his, pulling them flush against each other. The other man pulled back a little to nip gently on the telepath’s bottom lip, and he couldn’t help his smile in the dark.  
“Okaeri,” Jun said, and Sho reminisced in the cute edge to it.  
Being greeted like this, to be welcomed home even this late in the evening, was something that made Sho’s heart swell. It was such a ridiculously simple thing, but it still meant a lot to him. To know that Jun was always here, waiting for him.  
“I got you something,”  
He was playing with Jun’s short, dark locks of hair. The younger member had recently cut it, to be able to spike it up in the middle – a fresh, playful hairstyle – and Sho liked it a lot, but admittedly, he thought Jun looked cuter before he styled it. Just like now. Now he loved it.  
The other man tilted his head slightly, and Sho wanted to turn the lights on now, to see his expression. But then again, that would ruin the moment. And as he gently brought his hand up and down Matsumoto’s side, noticing how the man shivered through his thin t-shirt, he’d much rather lean in for another kiss,  
“But I suppose it can wait for tomorrow…” he said, as he pulled Jun in close again.  
  
Sakurai should praise himself lucky that Ohno was the one to be up before everyone else that morning (he had to go fishing in his small pond in the backyard, he said), else the special made chocolates would’ve been eaten before Jun could even take a look at them.  
But Matsumoto got his purple chocolate eggs with caramel and orange filling, and Sho got a rare morning exercise and breakfast in bed.

**Author's Note:**

> This series was written and completed over the course of a year, leading to improved writing style from the beginning till the end.


End file.
